Ostuni Events

Ostuni's year has one great occasion, and an agricultural calendar underneath it.

The Cavalcata di Sant'Oronzo

On 26 and 27 August the town honours the saint it credits with sparing it from the plague. The distinctive part is the Cavalcata: riders in uniform escort the statue through the streets on horses dressed in elaborate red and gold caparisons, many of them family heirlooms, worked with mirrors and embroidery. The procession goes up through the white lanes and the whole town turns out. There are illuminations, bands and fireworks across the three days around it.

The occasion has a specific origin: Ostuni credits Sant'Oronzo with sparing it during the plague of 1657, and the horsemen are said to recall the escort that accompanied the saint's relics. Whatever the history, the town has kept it up without interruption, and the caparisons are maintained and repaired between years rather than made new.

The new oil

November and December bring the olive harvest and the pressing, and with them tastings, mill visits and village festivals across the plain. For anyone interested in what Ostuni actually does for a living, this is the season.

The Madonna della Nova

The fifteenth-century sanctuary just outside the town is the focus of its other pilgrimage, and a quieter counterweight to the August spectacle.

Christmas and Easter

A nativity trail through the old town in December, and Holy Week processions that are sober and well attended.

Summer

Concerts and open-air events in the squares through July and August, and the beach clubs on the coast run their own season.