Santu Pati — Feast of Saint Hypatius and Pestanaca Festival (Winter Village)

The Salento Peasant New Year

Santu Pati is the popular name for the patronal feast of Saint Hypatius celebrated in Tiggiano, a small village in the Capo di Leuca area of Lecce province. Tiggiano is the only municipality in Italy to venerate this saint, considered the protector of virility and male fertility. The festival, held annually around January 17th–19th, is known as the Peasant New Year of Salento: an ancient rite that, in folk culture, marked the end of the harshest winter and the beginning of the new agricultural cycle.

The Pestanaca Festival

The gastronomic heart of the event is the Pestanaca Festival, celebrating the yellow-purple carrot grown exclusively in the fields of Tiggiano. Sown in summer and harvested right during the festival days, the pestanaca has been listed as a Traditional Agri-food Product (PAT) since 2004. An ancient vegetable with an intense flavor, it has survived through the centuries thanks to its link with the devotion to the saint and the Fera de Santu Pati, the historic market fair that brings the town streets to life on January 19th.

Winter Village

The festival is set against the backdrop of Tiggiano's medieval historic center, featuring the Mother Church of Saint Hypatius, Piazza Olivieri, and the Baronial Palace. Under the Winter Village brand, the town offers workshops, displays of local products and crafts, and a winter atmosphere that celebrates the peasant traditions of Salento.

Rites, Music, and Flavors

The program alternates between religious moments and street festivities: the lighting of large bonfires, the tasting of paparotta (a soup made with turnip tops, peas, and fried bread) and other traditional dishes, folk and pizzica music concerts, the solemn Eucharistic celebration, and the spectacular procession featuring the raising of the six-meter-high banner. The festival concludes with a fireworks display.

• Where: Historic center of Tiggiano (LE), Apulia
• When: Mid-January (17th–19th)
• Don't miss: The pestanaca, the bonfires, the fair on the 19th, the raising of the banner

Blending popular faith, local gastronomy, and Salento music, Santu Pati is one of the most authentic winter festivals in southern Apulia, drawing visitors from across Salento to the heart of the Municipality of Tiggiano.