Vine Festival

The Vine Festival of Novoli

The Vine Festival is the event that, every year in mid-December, officially marks the start of construction for the Fòcara, the massive pyre erected in honor of Saint Anthony the Abbot, the patron saint of Novoli, in the province of Lecce. It is a deeply rooted community ritual in Salento that renews the bond between field labor, popular spirituality, and the identity of an entire town each year.

The ritual of the first bundle

The heart of the day is the laying and blessing of the first bundle of vine shoots, the symbolic gesture that announces to the community that the path toward the Fòcara is officially open. The ceremony takes place at the site destined to host the great pyre and is accompanied by a evocative historical pageant featuring carriages, horses, and participants in early 20th-century peasant attire, recalling the simplicity and toil of farm work from the past. As the organizers remind us, every bundle is a story, a family, a fragment of the community joining the great collective ritual of fire.

The bond with the Fòcara of Saint Anthony the Abbot

The Fòcara of Novoli is one of the largest traditional ritual bonfires in the Mediterranean: a monumental pyre over twenty meters high, built entirely with bundles of vine shoots and trimmings from pruning. The great fire is lit around mid-January for the feast of Saint Anthony the Abbot, protector of animals and fire. The December Vine Festival represents the true countdown to that night, the moment when the town sets out to raise, bundle by bundle, its monument of peasant art.

Peasant and winemaking tradition

The use of vine shoots is no coincidence: it celebrates the winemaking vocation of Novoli, a land of Moscato and Negroamaro. The festival thus intertwines religious devotion and wine culture in a ritual rooted in the Salento peasant civilization. The day continues with the Peasant Aperitif featuring bread, oil, and wine, and the distribution of small bundles by "Le Donne della Fòcara," testifying to the popular participation that has always sustained this tradition.

An event for the whole community

• Historical pageant with carriages, horses, and street bands
• Laying and blessing of the first bundle of vine shoots
• Peasant Aperitif with bread, oil, and wine
• Traditional greasy pole game
• Moments dedicated to memory and the culture of fire

Organized by the Municipality of Novoli together with local associations, the Vine Festival is a precious opportunity to discover the most authentic soul of Salento and the Puglia of traditions, in a festive atmosphere that involves both young and old.