| Description |
On 17 January, in Macerata Campania,1 a small town in southern Italy, the citizens repeat the ancient feast of St. Anthony the Abbot (in the local language, A festa ‘e Sant’Antuono). On this occasion, the citizens build huge boat-shaped floats, i.e. ornamental wagons dedicated to St. Anthony called carri di Sant’Antuono, on which the battuglie di pastellessa parade through the streets of the town, performing the ancient music of St. Anthony, accompanied by a percussion of barrels, vats and sickles. The battuglie di pastellessa are a local group formed of about 50 people called bottari (i.e. particular musicians called “barrel-beaters”) and coor-dinated by an orchestra leader known as capobattuglia. During the festival, over 1,000 bottari (young people, adults and even children) play percussions with barrels, vats and sickles, common tools for agriculture, to give life to the typical music of St. Anthony, commonly called pastellessa.
|
