Fire Festival

On the evening of June 23rd, on the eve of the feast of San Giovanni, the "night of the fire" is renewed in Grello, the ancient castle of the territory, a characteristic local feast that sinks its origins in very distant times. It takes place in a simple, but suggestive way, with the fire carriers, six for each of the three districts in which the town was divided, engaged in a mad rush around the ruined castle walls: carrying a large torch on their shoulders and then pulling rudimentary trucks on which imposing candles (incije) that are made of wood, straw and other flammable material. For a series of elements that appear to contrast with an authentically Christian rituals, it is believed that the feast, with the attached ceremonies, was based on the structure of some archaic cults of pagan origin, promoted to satisfy deep psychological needs, which the Church replaced over time because in contrast to Christian ways. The Night of the Fire of St. John can be interpreted, therefore, as a patronal feast whose ritual aspects are connected to ancient agrarian cults and fertility as confirmed by the religious ceremonial, the fires with purifying and propitiatory functions, the "guazza" (dew ) from the virtues of fertilization, the solstice herbs (flower petals, grass, petals of broom, daisies, ecc.) and the offerings to di San Giovanni".