Sant’Efisio – A Festival of Faith and Colours

19 February 2009

Sant’Efisio is one of the most important festivals on the island of Sardinia and is a truly remarkable sight to behold. It is held every year in Cagliari in the south of the island and celebrates Saint Efisio who is said to have been decapitated on the beach at Nora near Pula on the 15th January 303 A.D.

The main event of the four-day festival is a four-hour procession through the streets of Cagliari on 1st May which has taken place every year since 1656. Hundreds of people from all over the island travel to the city for this important event. Participants dressed in national costumes parade the streets on foot, horseback or on colourful oxen drawn floats accompanying the effigy of the saint. 

Following the procession through the streets of Cagliari there is a two-day pilgrimage to Nora, 24 kilometres south of the city, for moving religious celebrations commemorating the place of Saint Efisio’s execution. The procession departs from Nora after Mass on the evening of 3rd May, stopping in Pula, Sarroch and other villages en route before arriving back into Cagliari on 4th May for a torch light procession to the church of Stampace.