The feast of Sant’Antonio and San Sebastiano are two recurring events which the people of Samugheo love dearly.
The feast of Sant’Antonio is held on 16 and 17 January, while San Sebastiano is celebrated on 19 and 20 January.
The two feast days are similarly organised: they start on the “day of the vespers” with the search for wood in the town’s houses followed by the creation, blessing and lighting of a bonfire in the main square.
Again on the evening of the vespers, at the parish church, the rosary is sung together with the “is gocios” (a religious song in Sardinian dedicated to the saint) and vigils are organised with traditional singing and dancing, which ends at dawn with a moment of prayer.
On the morning of the feast day a procession is held through the streets of the town and a solemn mass is said, ending again with the singing of the “is gocios”.
The feast of Sant’Antonio is the start of Sardinia’s carnival period , marked by the first exit of the S’Urtzu e is Mamutzones masks, which perform their ritual danze around the bonfire. For the vespers of San Sebastiano repeats the ritual.
The feast of Sant’Antonio is organised by a group of 5 people called Antonio, while the feast of the patron saint of San Sebastian is organised by the generation of thirty-five people with the collaboration of “is Pitanos”, that is the people of the town called after the saint.
On both occasions, the groups offer sweets and local wine to all those present.
