The patroness of Pignola is Our Lady of the Angels, celebrated from the third Saturday to the fourth Sunday of May. A distinctive feature of the feast is its route, reversed at Pignola compared to common practice: every year, for centuries, on the third Sunday of May the Marian image is carried in procession from the diocesan sanctuary of Pantano, set on the plain, up to the Chiesa Madre on the hill, and then brought back to the sanctuary on the third Sunday of September. Since the 14th century there is evidence of a Benedictine community settled beside the sanctuary, which may already have existed; from 1521 the church of Pantano passed under the patronage of the chapter of Pignola's mother church.
During the feast the procession of the Uglia is also held: a small fabric throne shaped like a spire, painted with the image of the Madonna, is carried through the streets of the town by a group of young people, accompanied by the band's music. Pignola's religious calendar also includes, on 17 January, the feast of Saint Anthony the Abbot, culminating in a race of horses, mules and donkeys: the animals gather in the square to receive the blessing, and as soon as it is given, set off on a daring race through the narrow streets of the centre, with three devotional laps around the church.
