U Signuruzzu du Lacu Festival (Most Holy Crucifix)

A festival of water and faith in Pergusa

The U Signuruzzu du Lacu Festival is the celebration of the Most Holy Crucifix that every year, around the first Sunday of May, brings Pergusa to life—a bustling village in the municipality of Enna, in the heart of Sicily. "U Signuruzzu du lacu" means, in the local dialect, "the Lord of the lake": a name that tells the story of the deep bond between the community, its Crucifix, and the body of water around which the village was born.

The origins: the village, the reclamation, the brotherhood

The town of Pergusa was founded in the 1930s following the reclamation of the lake area, and its parish was established in 1937: from that moment on, devotion to the Crucifix became the cornerstone of the village's identity. The Confraternity of the Most Holy Crucifix, founded in 1973, still guards and organizes the festivities today, traditionally set for the first Sunday of May. Lake Pergusa, the only natural lake in inland Sicily, is also linked to the famous classical myth of the Abduction of Proserpina sung by Ovid: a landscape and cultural context that makes this festival even more unique.

The ritual on the lake: the heart of the celebration

The most anticipated and defining moment is the procession of the Crucifix on the shores of the lake, during which the statue is placed on a boat and taken to the center of the water for the solemn blessing of the waters. In 2026, after nearly a decade in which drought had emptied the basin, the lake filled up again, and the Crucifix was once more able to reach the center of the lake by boat: a return filled with emotion for the entire Pergusa community.

The 2026 liturgical and popular program

The 2026 festivities took place from April 30 to May 10, culminating on Sunday, May 3. The religious program included:

• visits to the elderly and the sick of the parish and Eucharistic adoration (April 30);
• the Stations of the Cross and the celebration of the Anointing of the Sick (May 1);
• the Via Matris and the Holy Rosary (May 2);
• on the main day, Sunday, May 3, the historic cannon fire at 8:00 AM to wake the town, the solemn Eucharistic celebration with the profession of new confreres at 11:00 AM, and, in the afternoon, the procession with the blessing of the lake waters.

Shows, games, and community moments

Alongside the religious rites, the festival has always offered a rich recreational program: the memorial football tournament at the Pergusa sports field, blood donation drives, traditional games for children with the classic breaking of the pots, prize draws, evening musical shows—in 2026, a Vasco Rossi tribute concert—and the final parish party with music, karaoke, and the traditional sausage feast. The festivities conclude with an ecological walk around the lake. A festival that weaves together faith, popular tradition, and love for the land, drawing many emigrants and visitors from the province of Enna to Pergusa every year.