The protectresses of Tremestieri Etneo are Our Lady of Peace and Saint Barbara, virgin and martyr, depicted by two wooden statues held in the mother church of Santa Maria della Pace, probably dating from the 12th century, as indicated by the date 1196 engraved on the small bell of the bell tower, and rebuilt after the 1693 earthquake.
The patronal feast of Our Lady of Peace is the town's main celebration and is held on Low Sunday and the following Monday: after a three-day preparatory triduum, Saturday sees the procession offering candles and the «unveiling» of the statue, Sunday the first procession with the 18th-century processional litter, known as the «outer circuit», and Monday the second part of the route, known as the «inner circuit», the day on which the solemnity of Mary Most Holy of Peace is celebrated. During the celebrations the traditional «Cantata» is sung in the church square, a three-part sacred hymn composed at the end of the 19th century by the maestro Marcantonio Barbabietola and by the local Sebastiano Chiarenza.
Saint Barbara was invoked for the town's protection because of the 17th-century plague, and her feast is celebrated on 4 December, with a preparatory triduum beginning on 30 November: every year the saint's reliquary bust is brought from the town of Paternò, with which Tremestieri has always shared a bond of faith, sharing the same patron saint.
