Sclafani Roots Festivals closed

Discover

The “Chiusa Sclafani Roots Festival” project is part of the aggregation plan of the 33 Sicilian municipalities called Borghi dei Tesori Roots Fest.
The project is carried out in March, with the setting up of the altar of St. Joseph as a permanent exhibition, and on the weekends of the Borghi dei Tesori Roots Festival with the Bread Workshop and the screening of the documentary on the Feast of St. Joseph.
In fact, the feast of St. Joseph has always linked all the people of Chiusa to our small village.
In particular, the identity ritual is the creation of votive altars to St. Joseph, originally set up only in private homes and for several years also in the municipal headquarters at the Monumental Complex of the Badia.
Above the altar are placed the loaves of St. Joseph, whose shapes recall the symbols of the peasant and religious tradition.
They are real works of art, worked by the hands of expert women who pass on this technique to subsequent generations.
Precisely for this reason, the bread of San Giuseppe di Chiusa Sclafani has been recognized as a “World Heritage Site”, registered in the R.E.I – of the Regional Department of Cultural Heritage of Sicily and exhibited at the Sicilian Ethnographic exhibition, organized by Giuseppe Pitrè, in the national exhibition of Palermo of 1881-1882.
The devotion to the Patriarch St. Joseph has ancient roots, now centuries-old, which is why the project has led to the inclusion of a bread workshop, held by the carvers of the town, to allow the new generations and Italian-descendants to relive the art of this particular bread-making, in memory of the traditions of our ancestors.
It therefore aims to attract those who wish to learn or perfect this art, since this devotion is still felt by many Italo-descendants, who replicate the altar of St. Joseph in their countries of residence, as for example was done by some emigrants who closed themselves in New Orleans and Switzerland.
In addition to the bread workshop, the project also aims to make a short documentary that captures the highlights of the festival: from the procession of the Saint, carried by local carpenters and accompanied by the village band, to the days of Novena that precede the celebration, up to the decoration of the bread, the preparation of the altars and the table of the emigrant.
This documentary will be presented in May on the occasion of the Festival of the Villages of Treasures, in the Monumental Complex of the Badia, inside the room containing the altar, which will be kept from March until the weekends of the festival, thus constituting a permanent exhibition.
The projection and the presence of the altar will act as an immersive museum, representing an attraction for Italian-descendants, who will thus have the opportunity to visit the small village in May.
Therefore, the feast of St. Joseph, an identity for Chiusa Sclafani, creates a bond between the village and all the Italian-descendants in the world.
After the organization of the “Chiusa Sclafani Roots Festival” other identity festivals will follow that will attract the interest of travelers of the roots: the Feast of the Holy Crucifix, the Cherry Festival, the Sosio Valley Rally, the Peach Festival, and Christmas Beyond the canvas.