The patron saints of Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto are Saint Sebastian, celebrated on 20 January, and Saint Vitus, on 15 June. The minor basilica of San Sebastiano was rebuilt on a different site from the original and inaugurated on 25 March 1936 by Monsignor Angelo Paino; the cult of Saint Vitus, documented since 1472, led the inhabitants of Pozzo di Gotto in 1571 to obtain from the Archiepiscopal Court of Messina authorisation to elect their own chaplain, a first step toward autonomy from the jurisdiction of Milazzo.
On Good Friday, through the streets of Pozzo di Gotto's old town, the Procession of the Vare has been repeated uninterrupted since 1621, probably a legacy of Spanish rule: two parallel processions, made up of twenty-six floats depicting the mysteries of the Passion, parade as part of the Easter rites of the «Santa Sumana». Some of the floats were made by the local Barcellona artist Matteo Trovato (1870-1949), a sculptor of papier-mâché statues; on 17 August, the feast of Saint Roch, the saint is instead carried on a ship along the entire town coastline, from Spinesante to Calderà.
