February 14th is the day of Sorrento’s patron saint, Sant’Antonino.
Getting to see and experience all of the ways Sorrento comes together to honor and celebrate Sant’Antonino was an exciting way to dive deeper into Italian culture!
February 9, 2025- Statue Reveal in Sant’Antonino Square
The night before this event, I walked through Piazza Sant’Antonino for the first time and saw the statue covered in what appeared to be plastic, and having not seen it before I was excited to return the next afternoon to see what the statue, now restored, looked like.
The next day, at 4:30pm, there was a crowd of people in the square, a band in front of the church, and police around.
Some opening remarks were given, applause, and then it was time for the grand reveal of the statue.
The cloth covering the statue was slowly inched upward up the back and pulled down in the front.
As soon as most of the statue was visible, the square erupted in applause.
Following the reveal, there were prayers said and repeated by the crowd, and a picture taken of important people in front of the statue.
After this, the band standing in front of the church began to play music while people went up to get their photo taken in front of the statue.
As someone who does not speak very much Italian, it was hard to follow exactly what was happening, but I could pick out a few words and piece together a bit of what was being said, and I recognized the Lord’s Prayer when it began to be recited.
I enjoyed listening to the music, as this is something that transcends the language barrier, and it was comforting to be surrounded by a community of people coming together to celebrate.
February 13 - The day before the Festival
It’s the day before the official festival day.
Stalls full of vendors lined the streets in the city center.
I feel like I saw everything under the sun being sold: jewelry, books, candy, dishes, pans, clothing, hot dogs, potatoes, crepes, chandeliers, toys, pets, power tools, and more!
I got some pistachio flavored cotton candy (which was way bigger than I was expecting it to be!) and I felt like a little kid with my giant stick of cotton candy while walking past the carnival-style games where you shoot down cans to win huge plushies.
As I continued walking around, I passed by multiple vendors selling a wide variety of gummies, candied nuts, and other sweets so I couldn’t resist buying something from one of them.
I got a little bag of candied hazelnuts and they were such a fun little sweet snack to keep me going as I continued exploring!
I did not end up buying anything that wasn’t food, but it was thrilling to see all of the items being sold.
I was explaining to my friend in the U.S. everything that was happening in Sorrento to celebrate Sant’Antonino and she said, “It’s like a city wide party” and that’s what it felt like!
February 14th- Sant’Antonino Day
I started the morning in Piazza Sant’Antonino at 9am to watch the start of the procession then watched it a second time from Corso Italia.
The procession started out with groups of people from young to old, each group wearing a different color and carrying a flag, a crucifix, and censers.
After all of the other groups, the church of Sant’Antonino was represented.
The church has been given special designation of basilica by the pope, so in this procession, the red and yellow umbrella signifying the pope’s presence was carried.
The silver statue of Sant’Antonino was carried on the shoulders of men and was surrounded by flowers.
During the procession there was intermittently music being played by a band and hymns being sung by a group of singers.
Getting to watch this procession was a glimpse into the culture of Sorrento and I enjoyed being able to feel like a member of the Sorrento community.
The day ended with a beautiful fireworks display at 8pm over the water.
I was able to watch them from a terrace at Sant’Anna Institute while eating my dinner, which was a nice way to end the day of celebration.
Overall, I had a great time seeing all of the celebrations for Sant’Antonino and it was a great way to experience Sorrento on a deeper level.
Being able to see all of the festivities was such a fun and eye-opening experience to Sorrento’s dedication to their patron saint, Sant’Antonino.
Ciao,
Justine