Symbol of tolerance between the Sacred and Profane of carnival rituals

The calendar has it that the beginning of the Putignano Carnival coincides with the day on which the Christian religion celebrates saint stephen's day.

 

On December 26, as well as the opening of the carnival, for the Putignanesi and for the Christians of the world, Santo Stefano is celebrated who is also the patron saint of Putignano. The religious celebrations represented by the unwinding of a long procession through the city streets that starts from the Church of Santa Maria, where are the relics of Saint Stephen have been kept. All the religious brotherhoods that are historically part of the diocesan area including Putignano parade along the streets of the ancient village and part of the new town with the relics and the statue of the saint.

 

Carnival is notoriously an event that contains in itself not only colors, music, smiles, but also excesses, abuses and exaggerations. All elements strongly opposed to the dictates of rigor imposed by the Christian institution which is the church. As a symbol of union between Christian rigor and the excesses of Carnival there is the passage of the candle. A symbolic gesture of tolerance on the part of the church, which allows the people first of all, then to those who have to sing the lyrics of the Propaggini to put sarcasm, irony, little vulgarities in the streets."

 

During the procession of the faithful through the streets of the city, the passage of the candle takes place between the President of the Patronal Festivals Committee of Putignano and the pro tempore President of the Putignano Carnival Foundation as a symbolic request for forgiveness for all the "sins" that will be committed during the Carnival period.