The patron of Fontanelice is the Nativity of Mary, celebrated on 8 September. After the earthquake of 1672 the people of Fontanelice asked for the protection of the Virgin and proclaimed a feast day for it; the main place of Marian devotion is the Santuario della Madonna della Consolazione, whose image, an icon of the Virgin at half length with the child holding the world, is attested since 1507.
The Antica Fiera (Ancient Fair), an event rooted in the 17th century, is held on the Sunday closest to 8 September. For centuries it was a showcase of the agricultural produce of the Fontanelice area and of the middle Santerno valley; it ceased in the 1980s and was revived in 2006 on the initiative of the town council. Since 2015 it no longer falls on 8 September itself, but on the Sunday closest to that date.
