La Festa del Covo

The “Festa del Covo” in Campocavallo, Osimo, is a thanksgiving feast in honor of the miraculous icon of Our Lady of Sorrows which is venerated in the Sanctuary of Campocavallo. Every first Sunday in August, a Covo, which is a monument dedicated to wheat made with two to three million ears expertly intertwined to form real rural works of art, is offered to the Madonna in festive procession.

Each year the Covo depicts a different theme, from the symbols of Christianity to reproductions of sanctuaries and cathedrals from all around the world. Thanks to this tradition, Campocavallo is twinned with the most significant places of Christianity, such as Lourdes, Fatima, Częstochowa and Santiago de Compostela, and its residents are often received by the Holy Father at the Vatican. Many in the village actively contribute to the construction of the Covo and the organisation of what is considered to be "The Feast". The events in the programme, which always see the rich and lively participation of the inhabitants of Campocavallo and the nearby communities as well as that of tourists, start on the previous Wednesday and Thursday, and culminate on the Sunday with solemn religious ceremonies and the parade of the Covo through the streets of the town, with all its folklore, tradition, guests, music and colours.

Born in 1939, the “Festa del Covo” remains one of the most authentic testimonies of the peasant culture of the Marche region, one of the last expressions of the creativity, knowledge and ability of local people to produce, innovate and enhance what nature has to offer. Its origins are part of the popular religiousness of the Marche region and its history has been written with simplicity by at least three generations of people, attesting to that infinite love that binds man to land and its fruits.