I want to share some September periods from my times in Polizzi Generosa which capture the wonder of the three day festival of Polizzi’s patron saint and ‘protector’ San Gandolfo; a sacred festival yet one filled with fun.

It is a yearly celebration, 694 years old venerating a saint, who it is said protected the village from disasters and worked miracles. It centres around two dark and haunting processions, a life sized 18th century wooden statue with a gentle and kind expression, a splendid 16th century solid ‘reliquary’, animated acoustically perfect concerts held to crowds of thousands, some great street food and some uplifting sacred music.

It involves ‘solemn’ parading and lively fun and the main procession is always held on the third Sunday in glorious September.

It is a festival filled with utter devotion.

A few memories of San Gandoflo:

We were staying in Polizzi for a week or so in search of a Sicilian home in 2003 and the village was in the midst of energetic preparations for the festival of its revered patron saint.

And I will never forget 2005; the streets and piazzas so animated and ready.

Colourful lights scripted with the words, San Gandolfo were arched across the narrow entry to Via Garibaldi at Piazza Trinita and numerous curved arches of coloured bulbs were placed at intervals down the winding main street. The village was ablaze with lights.

Stalls set up by ‘travelling merchants’ were spilling into Piazza Gramsci: Sicilian food stalls selling pannelle on fresh local bread and hazelnut and almond torrone. The torrone while still warm and malleable was quickly poured from the large pot, rolled out in big slabs and cut up.

And other stalls were selling pots, pans and brooms, jewellery, toys, helium balloons and books. Small rides were rigged up on the edge of the main piazza and children waited eagerly.

And the whirr of hair dryers could be heard as we walked the afternoon streets; the hairdressers were busy and the barbers’ chairs were filled.

The Two Processions: the welcoming of the wooden statue into Polizzi (Saturday), the silver bust paraded (Sunday); and the return of the wooden statue to the hermitage out of town (Monday).

Saturday: San Gandolfo’s wooden statue is welcomed; 2003.

After hearing the repeated and soulful sounds of a lone drummer walking the stone streets throughout the afternoon we made enquiries at the b&b we were staying at and then made our way to the main piazza to join the huge crowd of locals waiting to welcome the 18^th century wooden life sized statue of San Gandolfo to the village.

The wooden statue is housed a few kilometres outside of Polizzi in the church of San Gandolfo on the site of his hermitage. And as the writer Vincent Schiavelli says in his book, 'Many Beautiful Things' it is placed on a ‘litter’ filled with flowers and brought by a small truck for part of the journey and then it is ‘hoisted’ onto the shoulders of devoted men and hauled slowly up the mountain.

The sound of the town band’s haunting and mournful music filled the air that afternoon well before I saw the hoisted statue of San Gandolfo turn into the main piazza.

I will never forget the applause, sacred and hushed from the people of Polizzi. I felt totally touched to my core; the solemnity and devotion. I had never seen anything like this before.

The priest said prayers of gratitude and blessing and sacred music played. Maybe it was a ‘Te Adoramus” that played in September 2003 as Vincent Schiavelli had heard one San Gandolfo festival years before. The statue then moved slowly down Via Garibaldi and through the streets to rest in the Chiesa Madre before the 9pm candle lit procession through the softly lighted cobblestone streets.

Sunday: The second procession of the silver bust and a rock concert; 2005 and 2009.

The second ‘more spectacular’ procession on the Sunday evening was after a day filled with sacred and triumphant music and a busy lunchtime passeggiata.

By 6pm the town’s people assembled reverently outside the Chiesa Madre for the moving and 'much longer' procession of the 750 kg ‘ornate Silver bust containing San Gandolfo’s bones’ through the town. The town’s band, Accademia Musicale Polizzana played as the 6pm procession made its way slowly through the streets.

In 2009 I remember watching the procession move down Via Garibaldi from the first floor balcony of the house; the long caped drummers leading the procession with a solemn and rhythmic beat. I was haunted: a group of beautifully robed priests and throngs of devoted people slowly following a beloved saint sitting on an elaborate litter surrounded by fresh roses.

Vincent Schiavelli notes that when the statue is unveiled in the Chiesa Madre before the silver bust is hauled down the steps there is often a ‘gasp’ from the people in ‘seeing the beauty and opulence of the statue’. It is, he continues, housed behind heavy velvet curtains in a side altar for the rest of the year.

The town turns out again in huge numbers for this second procession; jean clad young men and women in sneakers and high heels and young parents wheeling strollers walked side by side with black clad women and men dignified in their best suits; all were there.

This weaving night route through the narrow streets is haunting and mournful and after much adoration, slow walking and incantation the bust is finally returned to the side altar.

People on the edge of the streets, balconies and in doorways stood quietly to catch a glimpse of their beloved patron saint; blessing themselves and bowing.

After San Gandolfo was returned to the safe keeping of the side altar in the Chiesa Madre the people moved down Via Garibaldi to the main piazza for a late and very lively concert.

A Rock Concert:

The year that I saw Anna Oxo perform (2005) I was struck by just how much the ‘solemnity’ gave way to the loud beat of a rock star and great fun for the whole village.

The music of the much lauded Italian singer, Anna Oxo, with an earthy San Remo voice could be heard in the village streets as she performed in Piazza Trinita, in the dark, to a full house of thousands. With older people swaying, the young dancing in tight jeans arm in arm and children running and weaving through the standing crowd it really was a night for everyone.

The streets were simply vibrant on the evenings of the festival; people eating and strolling, buying wares, having a drink at Bar Trinita at the edge of Piazza Trinita and the young flirting- romantic expectation filled the night.

The festivities continued late into the September nights as the cool air rolled in.

Monday: The return of the wooden statue to the hermitage:

On the third day the gentle faced wooden statue leaves the village and is returned to church of San Gandolfo built on the site of his hermitage outside the village.

Crowds walk to the belvedere in Piazza Trinita and watch quietly as the statue is 'transported down the mountain'.

This festival opened the doors to a stone medieval Sicilian village for us in September 2003 where so many people are called Gandolfo or Gandolfa.

It was a big part of why we asked, ‘What’s for sale?’ 11 years ago.

Salve

Suzanne

Edited 15/9/2015. The original blog has been reworked and edited. Its delivery of events are now clearer. Also, it now contains reference to Vincent Schiavelli’s book ‘Many Beautiful Things’ which was background reading and was not noted in the original blog. The festival does run for 8 days in total but the last three days are the main days. Suzanne