The Rites of Wheat and Straw come from the mists of time. Since farmers began to give thanks to the gods of the earth for the success of the crops. They became real community festivals in Roman times, in the middle of summer, when the blonde ears of wheat gave their fruits, an indispensable source of food.

Then they have been handed down from generation to generation over the centuries, also integrating into Christian rituals. A tribute, depending on the country, either to the Madonna, celebrated with various titles, or to San Rocco, protector from plagues. His cult spread strongly in Campania especially after the plague epidemic that severely struck the Kingdom of Naples in 1656.

The Rites of Wheat and Straw are celebrated in various Campanian Municipalities of Sannio and Irpinia, with two other neighboring towns of Molise, along the Apennine ridge which has been a bridge between peoples and cultures since ancient times. Although they present characteristic elements in different countries, the many commonalities identify them as events of national and international importance. And the Region has nominated them for Unesco Heritage.

FONTANAROSA

The village nestled between the hill and the Frèdane valley celebrates its annual festival dedicated to wheat on 14 August, which has been grown in that area since at least the Lombard era. Even if the celebrations begin on August 8, when the complex organizational machine that makes the "Tirata" possible, the name by which the town's event is defined. It is on that day, in fact, that the dome is traditionally placed on the gigantic obelisk of straw and wheat, dominated by the small throne on which the statue of the Madonna della Misericordia is placed. In her honor the festival is held.

The obelisk is of truly impressive dimensions with its 28 meters in height, divided into eight parts. It is a complex wooden structure, on which the panels are mounted year after year. They are true straw weaving masterpieces. Once the work is completed, the expert "angels of the ropes" come into action. They have the very delicate task of keeping it upright without risk during the journey. That starts from via Primo Maggio up to the Town Hall and is performed on a cart pulled by two pairs of oxen. As a side dish, but carried out with the same choral spirit by the inhabitants of the village and the nearby countryside, is the parade of the "gregne", the sheaves of ears carried by local people in traditional clothes, with typical music and songs.

This of the wheat festival is a deeply rooted tradition. The memory of its most ancient origin has been lost. Probably linked to the propitiatory rites for the harvest practiced in antiquity and then reconverted with the advent of Christianity. The obelisk may have been borrowed from the Baroque era obelisks erected in some squares in Naples. And the two "apparatori" brothers Generoso and Stanislao Martino were of Neapolitan origin, sons of the Neapolitan carpenter Giuseppe Martino, former architect of the grain obelisk of Mirabella Eclano. It was they who moved to Fontanarosa in the mid-nineteenth century, developing the first chariot with the obelisk. The latter was then elaborated in its current configuration in the last century by Mario Ruzza.

FLUMERI 

Between the heights of the Baronia and the Ufita valley, Flumeri renews its devotion to San Rocco every year, giving thanks for the wheat harvest with a manifestation of faith. Its origin dates back to the ancestral cults linked to the peasant activity of its people. On August 15, the entire community of the Irpino village is mobilized in the ceremony of the "pull of Giglio", a monument of intertwined ears of pyramidal shape, thirty meters high, the result of everyone's work and participation.

It is with the most beautiful ears that the Giglio (lily) is created. Chosen one by one, patiently selected according to the color and then wet, to be able to weave them. This is how the panels that will make up the seven floors from which the work is formed are created. Each floor is cared for by a team of young people, while expert carpenters, called "carristi", take care of the wooden supporting structure of the first floor of the Giglio, dedicated to San Rocco, and of the tip. Assembled horizontally, the Giglio is raised between 8 and 10 August. The "pull" with the parade through the streets of the village takes place on August 15th. The traditional route goes from Campo del Giglio to the church of San Rocco, on a tractor. But it is only thanks to the mastery and skill of the rope handlers that it is possible to keep the giant of ears in balance for the entire parade. All the villagers and foreign guests attend it. At the end of the event, the winning team of the Palio for the most beautiful decorations is proclaimed. The winners will participate in the procession of the feast of San Rocco, the following day, carrying the banner with the image of the saint.

VILLANOVA DEL BATTISTA

In the upper Ufita valley, not far from the Regio Tratturo Pescasseroli-Candela among the main transhumance routes, the inhabitants of the mountain village overlooking the Fiumarella stream pay homage every 27 August. In honor of their patron Saint John the Baptist, they organize the "shooting of Giglio", a very special festival featuring wheat. In fact, it is with straw that a twenty-seven meter high Giglio (lily) is built, which is then transported through the streets of the town.

In the 1800s, it was an inhabitant of the town, Costantino Ciccone, who had the idea of dedicating an ex voto to San Giovanni Battista in the form of an obelisk of about two meters. Over time, more and larger ones were built. In 1930 the existence of two Gigli was attested: a taller one, twenty-five meters long, made of woven oats, and a smaller one made of wheat. The tradition was interrupted by the earthquake of that year and then resumed in 1986 with the creation of a single Giglio, the work of the entire community, which enthusiastically carries on the tradition.

MIRABELLA ECLANO

The inhabitants of Mirabella Eclano call it "carrettone". Since the harvest they have been busy weaving the best ears of corn to decorate it properly. For it to be ready for 8 September, when it is transferred to the village, to kick off the parade of the cart, on the third Saturday of September. It is not only the big cart that animates the feast, which is an act of devotion to Madonna Addolorata. The oldest float made to thank the Madonna for a good harvest was an ex voto. Completing the imposing structure, daughter of the community's faith and choral commitment, is an obelisk twenty-five meters high, made up of artistic straw panels mounted on a wooden core, which culminates with a statue of the Madonna. The obelisk has seven parts, four of which are the work of the Faugno workshop, which has been doing it for three generations, while the three upper ones do not change and are kept for the rest of the year in the village museum.

On the day set for the "pull", the 1,300-metre route through the village is covered in five hours. The big cart is driven by six pairs of oxen, while hundreds of villagers take care of keeping the obelisk standing, skilfully using the necessary ropes.

The traditional rite requires that the blessing of the cart takes place early in the morning in the church of Madonna Addolorata, before starting the parade among the wings of the population crowded in the centre of the village.