In the wake of tradition, the 635th edition of the festival in honor of the patron saint of Matera, Maria Santissima della Bruna, which every 2 July links the sacred and the profane, also with an additional motivation, that of continuing in the search for historical sources, with the candidacy for UNESCO heritage. The confirmation came during the presentation of the Festival program (full of events also in the previous days), illustrated by the president of the Maria Santissima della Bruna Association, Bruno Caiella, and the archbishop’s delegate, Don Francesco Di Marzio. This year, people from Matera and tourists (thousands of people are expected for July 2nd) will be able to begin to appreciate the history of the Festival with a narration in dialect by the researcher of local traditions, Angelo Sarra, scheduled for June 19th Cathedral. On the 23rd, then, there will be the presentation to the city of the triumphal papier-mâché chariot, created by the artist Francesca Cascione, on the theme of the Gospel ‘When the disciples of Emmaus broke the bread they recognized him and said: perhaps our hearts were not burning in our chests while he conversed with us along the way, when he explained the Scriptures to us?’. On July 2nd, the succession of the various traditional events of the Festival, which will begin in the morning with the so-called shepherds’ procession (in which thousands participate every year): for safety reasons, it will wind through the city streets, rather than in the districts Sassi, with the usual battery fire. At midday the procession of the Madonna della Bruna, escorted by knights in period costume, up to the Piccianello district from where in the evening the historical procession with the triumphal chariot will depart. After the ‘three tours of the Cathedral’ and the return of the Madonna to the Cathedral, the continuation of the papier-mâché artefact for the assault and ‘torn’ by the people.
At midnight the fireworks show will take place again in Murgia Timone.
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