September Festival of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino

The patronal feast of Solarolo Rainerio

The September Festival of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino is the most important event of the year for Solarolo Rainerio, a municipality of just under a thousand inhabitants located in the Cremona plain, along the lands of the Oglio Po. Celebrated every first Sunday of September, the festival honours Saint Nicholas of Tolentino, the town's patron saint, and is the moment when the entire community of Solarolo comes together.

Devotion and tradition

The religious heart of the festival are the celebrations in the parish church of Santo Stefano, rebuilt in neoclassical style and housing important works of art, including two panels by Galeazzo Campi from 1528. Around the liturgical dimension, the civil and popular aspects develop, with moments of gathering, food stalls, and initiatives that animate the streets of the centre.

The Palio delle Contrade

The September festival is intertwined with the Palio delle Contrade, the historical event that characterizes the patronal feast: the procession in Renaissance costumes from the 15th-16th centuries, traditional games, and the famous donkey race between the town's districts. It is a typical combination of festivals in the Po Valley, where the sacred and the profane coexist in a single grand celebration.

A village in the Cremona plain

Solarolo Rainerio, in Lombardy, retains the authentic atmosphere of small agricultural centres, with its 19th-century villas and the memory of peasant civilization. The September Festival is an opportunity to discover this little-known corner of the Province of Cremona, experiencing a genuine and deeply rooted village festival.