On the weekend of April 13 and 14, The Festival of Fires is renewed in Piazza Garibaldi in Sulmona. An event that evokes the ancient tradition of lighting fires that ended the winter season and were propitiatory for the arrival of spring.
In this popular festival of archaic origins, the arrival of the beautiful season was celebrated with a ritual in honor of the Sun God.
The festival, organized by the Sulmona Joust of Chivalry, is animated by Boroughs and Sestieri that collect large piles of wood in the days leading up to it to be burned on Sunday evening.
As part of the festival, an ‘ancient donkey competition is also proposed:“Donkeys a capezza” where the Boroughs compete to win the Donkey Palio, each with its own donkey.
The festivities begin on Saturday afternoon with folk games and in the evening with the opening of food and wine stands and music until late at night, and then resume on Sunday afternoon when there will be the Palio degli asini (Donkey Palio), the award ceremony for the winners, until the grand finale with the lighting of the fires that illuminate Garibaldi Square in daylight.
Photo: Sulmona’s Joust of Chivalry
