The patron saints of Putignano are Saint John the Baptist, celebrated on 24 June, and Our Lady of Sorrows, celebrated on the third Sunday of September: both feasts are celebrated in the town's Chiesa Madre.
The town is also linked to the figure of Saint Stephen: it is said that it was during the procession for the transfer of his relics that the Propaggini celebrations originated, the event that opens the famous Putignano Carnival, among the oldest in Europe. The Carnival took on its present form during the 1950s and 1960s, a period that also saw the flourishing of the town's textile industry.
