In Termoli the life of the sea and the life of the town have never come apart, and the patron's feast says so better than anything else. On the morning of 3 August, after the solemn six o'clock mass, the statue of San Basso leaves the cathedral and reaches the port: there it is loaded onto a fishing boat drawn by lot beforehand, and the procession continues on the water, followed by the rest of the fleet as far as the Torre del Sinarca.
It is there that the bishop blesses the town and the fishing trade, casting a wreath of flowers into the sea in memory of those who never came back. The saint then returns to the port and stays on display all night in the fish market.
4 August belongs to the land: the saint is carried through the streets of the old borgo by the faithful and returns to the cathedral. At night fireworks go up over the port, while Rio Vivo beach fills with the bonfires the harbourmaster allows.
