The patron saint of Ruoti is Saint Roch, celebrated twice: on 16 August and on the first Sunday of September. Devotion to him began in the chapel of the Spinosa district, built on his own land by the feudal lord of the time during the plague of 1651, which still holds a stone portal from the Abetina woods bearing the stylised coat of arms of the Capece Minutolo family, and a painting depicting the saint with a panoramic view of the town.
On 16 August the statue of Saint Roch is carried in procession from the town to the chapel of Spinosa, where Mass is celebrated; on the first Sunday of September, the day of the actual festivities, the statue makes the return journey, but is brought back not to the church of San Rocco but to that of San Vito, while at the same time the town's mayor sets out on a separate procession to meet the cortège. Also deeply felt in Ruoti is the feast of Saint Donatus, on 7 August, with celebrations lasting two or three days.
