Villafranca Sicula – First Sunday in August
Feast of Mary Most Holy of Myrtle
As they say, a party with bangs. Literally. The fireworks competition, which closes the celebrations in honor of the co-patron saint Mary Most Holy of Myrtle, is considered among the most important and spectacular in Italy.
Enlivening the festival are the two opposing factions of the village: the Sammichelari, devotees of St. Michael the Archangel and dressed in blue, and the red Sangiovannari faithful to St. John the Baptist.
Both groups open the dances with the spectacular “laurel entrance.” Also parading, of course, are the simulacra of St. Michael and St. John, which, carried on the shoulders, are danced among the faithful; and which in the afternoon accompany Our Lady of Myrtle along the solemn procession that, among a multitude of participants, winds through the streets of the village.
