The Varia di Palmi is a traditional festival held in Palmi, in honour of the patron saint and protector of the city.
This year the Varia is on 25 August
Palmi is a little coastal town which is just an hour from the Reggio Calabria Airport, and the festivities of the Varia are in honour of Maria Santissima della Sacra Lettera, the patron saint and protector of the city. This year the event will take place on 25 August. The annual Varia attracts thousands of tourists who crowd the streets of the little coastal town to participate in this unique experience which is the Calabria region's main festival.
Listed by UNESCO since 2013
In 2013 it was added to the UNESCO’s intangible cultural heritage of humanity list, together with the Macchina di Santa Rosa in Viterbo, the Festa dei Gigli in Nola and the Discesa dei Candelieri in Sassari, which are united in the network of major Italian shoulder-carriage festivals.
200 bearers carry the heavy chariot
The Varia is a large sacred chariot representing the universe and the assumption into heaven of the Virgin Mary. On top of the 53-foot-tall chariot, carried on the shoulders of 200 i Mbuttaturi bearers, the figures represent the Madonna, the father, the apostles and the angels. And at the very top of the chariot there is a teenage girl, symbolizing the Virgin.
The colours of the scarves denote the town’s guilds
The sacred chariot, weighing twenty tons, is 53 feet tall and was built at the beginning of the 20th century. It is the only such structure without wheels and the 200 young bearers use heavy ropes. Dressed in white, with coloured scarves around their necks, distinguishing the five town guilds, the bearers are barefoot and maneuver the heavy machine through the crowds. The ritual, which takes only a few minutes, has been taking place for the last 500 years.
