🎉 Patron saint festival

Feast of Saint Blaise (San Biagio)

📍 Bronte · Catania · Sicily

On 3 February Bronte honours its co-patron with a procession from the church of San Sebastiano and the traditional blessing of throats; the rites begin on the last Sunday of January.

The feast creeps up quietly: on the last Sunday of January the statue of Saint Blaise is lowered from its niche, then come three days of prayers and the Candlemas blessing of candles, and on 3 February the procession sets out from the church of San Sebastiano. Back inside, people queue for the blessing of the throat, given with two crossed candles — Blaise being the saint invoked against ailments of the throat.

Records of the devotion go back to around 1535, when the townspeople took the martyred bishop as their protector — tradition says after an epidemic — alongside the Madonna Annunziata, patron of the town. The 2026 edition was held as usual on 3 February.

Source & programme ↗ ✉️ Know something about this event? Tell us

More events in Bronte

Procession

Good Friday Procession

📅 Every year on Good Friday

All the town's confraternities process with the mysteries: Christ at the Column, carried by barefoot bearers, meets the Crucifix while the crowd sings the Stabat Mater.

Food festival

Bronte Pistachio Festival (Sagra del Pistacchio)

📅 Every year, over two weekends between late September and October

Two autumn weekends of tasting stands, live cooking and folk parades in honour of Etna's green gold; the 34th edition ran from 10 to 19 October 2025.

All events in Bronte →