This celebration began around 1830. It was once held in October, but now it takes place on the first Sunday of September, a change made to increase participation by tourists and emigrants returning for the summer.

The procession starts from the San Ferdinando Re church and proceeds to the “Passo della Madonna”, a high point in the Tramontana area, clearly visible to fishermen, where a chapel dedicated to the Lady of the Cross stands. Before the celebration begins, the statue is paraded around the island on a small truck, followed by young people on motorcycles. The statue is then brought back to the main church to begin the formal procession.

A unique feature of this celebration is the lighting of vamparine, small devotional bonfires set up along the route by local farmers whose lands are along the procession path. These fires symbolize offerings of devotion to the Madonna and often spark a friendly rivalry over who creates the most impressive fire.

 

This element has been included in the Register of Intangible Heritage of local interest of the Municipality of Ustica, as part of Intervention 2 “Activation of the Observatory on the Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Territory through the application of the REIL methodology – Register of Intangible Heritage of Local Interest”, within the”Ustum Cultural Programme” project, funded by the NRRP (National Recovery and Resilience Plan), Mission: Digitalisation, innovation, competitiveness, culture and tourism, Component: Tourism and culture 4.0, Investment 2.1 “Attractiveness of villages.” CUP: E24H22000130006.