Sorrento Festival for SALA patron Saint

Four Day Festival In Sorrento To Honor Saint Anna

 Santa Anna Sorrento Lingue shared with me the festival that celebrates their patron saint and the entire town of Sorrento will celebrate.

From Olga Stinga with SALA

"On July 26th Italians celebrate the Festivity of Sant’Anna (the Saint to whom our Institute is dedicated and that we take the name).      The celebration for this saint will last 4 days, until Monday when there will be a huge festival in Marina Grande (the fishing village of Sorrento) and  fireworks.

         The Madonna, called Saint Anna, protects  pregnant women and on the 26^th of July all the pregnant women of the Sorrento  Pensinsula travel to the fishing village of Marina Grande and visit the church.

         There is also a special event organized in the church: at 7 pm on the 26^th of July the priest will bless  some handkerchief's with holy water and he distributes them to all the pregnant women attending the celebration.   It is a way to ask for the protection of this saint.    Again, our Institute is dedicated to Sant’Anna, the imother of Maria (the mother of Jesus).

On Monday there will be a huge procession by sea: the statue of the Madonna will be put on a boat and they’ll drive her along the coast to bless the sea and the land.       The boat will be followed by hundreds of smaller boats to form a procession by sea."  


Isn't this an event you would like to attend?   There are other wonderful festivals that you can experience while attending a class at SALA.     
Be sure to see their class list at http://sorrentolingue.com   

Additional information and the photos above was obtained from Surrentum magazine.
The following information was taken from an article written by Antonino Fiorentino.

        The St. Anne feast at the Marina Grande:     Religious holidays, have always been accompanied events with entertainment and fun that over time have tried to keep the spirit that animated them. The tradition has continued, however, the meaning is a sincere and deep religious devotion which is always alive in Sorrento.

Festive lights and booths line the shore line

            More significant is the feast of St. Anna,  in the Marina Grande, which is an expression of tradition and seafaring community that lives by the sea of ​​Sorrento and the sea. In the almost two hundred years of life has always maintained its aspects that distinguish it and that almost merge together: that of religion, and -competitive sport.

       The religious event is marked by the Novena, the procession with the statue of St. Anna.
The folklore is the presence of numerous stalls selling watermelons, lupins, coconut, nougat and various sweets, with lights that illuminate the town  and the spectacle of fireworks at sea.

The last aspect, the competitive-sport, is represented by the popular games in which participants give their best to do well in the eyes of thousands of spectators who enjoy these great and friendly service to edge of the typical Sorrento fishing boats.      In various games such as tug of war, the sack race, I'arcifamoso "soap pole"  (grease pole) come to life not only the traces of a popular racing but also the roots of our own carefree adolescence during these games, and perhaps, something spontaneous, genuine, authentic life today seems to have lost.