Feast of the Assumption in Novara di Sicilia

Û Fistinu î menzagustu - The Feast of Mid-August

The Feast of the Assumption, otherwise known as Û Fistinu î menzagustu and the five-year anniversary of the Apotheosis of the Assumption, is the most important popular religious festival in the town of Novara di Sicilia.
Every year the Festino dell'Assunta takes place which includes: the procession of the Assumption on August 15th and the Procession of Sant'Ugo Cistercian Abbot on August 16th.
The two feasts are celebrated together because according to tradition it was precisely with the arrival of Abbot Hugh , sent to Sicily by Bernardo di Chiaravalle to lead a group of Cistercian monks, that the devotion to the Virgin in the Novara area increased and strengthened during the 12th century.
The midsummer feast provides for a precise and particular ceremonial .
The  scinnuda da Madonna takes place on the last Sunday of July: the simulacrum of the Virgin, wrapped in a sheet, is placed in the niche of the usual chapel.< br>August 1st takes place  Madonna ô so logu: the simulacrum is placed on the fercolo and enthroned with a small internal processional ceremony. The vara is stationed near the last span of the left aisle, for the customary chinnicea (fortnight).
The solemn Procession of the Assumption takes place on the day of August 15th . According to tradition, the procession is preceded by the arrangement of candles with the characteristic pyramidal shape, where each order is divided by multicolored ribbons. The simulacrum is covered with many jewels, "ex voto", gifts of the faithful over the centuries, and the vara is decorated with floral compositions. The mass reserved for the numerous bearers is followed by the lighting of approximately 150 candles. At the end of the celebration, all the bearers arrange themselves in concentric circles, kneel down and sing the moving song of Ave Maris Stella, at the end of which the ritual includes the expected three hammer blows on the armrest as a signal for the beginning . To the acclamation of the capovara they respond with rhythmic and decisive Evviva by lifting and swinging the heavy fercolo forward. Thus begins the procession.
The procession of the Assumption is characterized by the particular movement that the bearers give to the vara, three steps forward and two backwards, known as a ballada da Madonna.
Instead, the solemn procession of the Patron Saint San'Ugo takes place on 16 August through the streets of the historic centre.

Every five years the Apotheosis of the Assumption takes place, which brings together the two processions, the first of which is solemnly accompanied by 15 statues.

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