Tradition, culture and cuisine

Feast days and events to discover our local tradition

Feast days and events
You can choose to spend some days in Orosei in any period of the year, but if you don’t know when then have a look to the calendar. There are some events that are worth a visit like you were part of our community.

January
The feast day of Saint Anthony is celebrated on 16th January. The young people of the town build a base at the foot of the Aragonese tower, where they will place the wood necessary for the fire. The bonfire will be light after the Mass and the celebration continues close to the heat of the fire with a glass of wine and typical sweets.

Easter (March or April)
All the churches of Orosei are decorated with flowers, palms and olive branches during the Holy Week. It is also a custom to prepare the characteristic nenneros: grain of wheat or of legume that germinate in the dark and that form light stems of grass. This is the preparation of Sos Sepurcros, that in Sardinian dialect means sepulchres. The churches stay open for the visit of the corfajos, members of the Confraternities, and for the population. There are two processions that animate the town during these days of prayer: Su Brossolu, a procession of miserable spirit of the sorrowful Virgin Mary and the Christ on the Cross on Good Friday; S’Incontru, when the Risen Christ meets the Mary on Easter Sunday. The Magnificat is performed by the local polyphonic choir Su Concordu and it accompanies the joy of the Sunday feast day.

May
The Feast of Santa Maria del Mare is celebrated on the last Sunday in May. From the bridge over the river Cedrino, the fisherman’s boats carry the simulacrum of the Madonna to the Pisan Church on the river mouth.

July
The patron saint of Orosei is celebrated on 25th July. The Feast of the Apostle Saint James begins with a religious procession and continues with folkloristic events in the evening.

September
The feast of the Madonna del Rimedio takes place on the second Sunday in September and it lasts for 18 days. 87 cumbessias (pilgrim lodgings) are sited around the church. Around 100 families move into them to pray and celebrate the Virgin with meals and dances. The shrine of the same name is located on the road along the river Cedrino and it belongs to the Literary Park Grazia Deledda together with the Casa delle Donne Pintor in Galtellì; both are mentioned in Grazia Deledda’s novel “Canne al Vento”.

December
The shrine of Saint Lucy is located in the countryside. This is another beloved feast day that takes places the 13th December and the first Sunday after Eastern. It is celebrated with songs and music while sweets and jewels called “eyes of Saint Lucy”- calcareous operculum of a mollusc- are offered to the statue of the Saint.