Patronal festival
yearly celebrations held in countries influenced by Christianity
A patronal feast or patronal festival (Spanish: fiesta patronal; Catalan: festa patronal; Portuguese: festa patronal; Italian: festa patronale; French: fête patronale) is a yearly celebration dedicated – in countries influenced by Christianity – to the 'heavenly advocate' or 'patron' of the location holding the festival, who is a saint or virgin. The day of this celebration is called patronal feast day, patronal day or patron day of said location.
Patronal festivals may reflect national holidays (e.g. the feast of Saint George, patron saint of England, Georgia, Bulgaria, Romania, Portugal, and various regions of Spain), but they usually reflect the celebration of a single city or town.
In larger cities, there may even be several festivals, usually about the patron saint of the local parish.
Celebration
Depending on the budget and tradition, patronal festivals may typically run from one day to one week, though some festivals may exceed that length.
The festivities usually include religious processions honoring its Catholic heritage. However, elements of local culture have been incorporated as well.
Usually, town members adorn the town streets with colorful decorations and other things.
Most patronal festivals feature traditional fairs known as verbenas (Italian: sagra, plural: sagre), possibly including elements typical of the travelling carnivals.
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This entry incorporates text from “Patronal festival” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.