La Tirata dei Carri Covoni

The "Tirata dei Carri Covoni" (Dragging of the Sheaf Carts) is a religious and folkloric event held every year in Frigento, on the occasion of Ferragosto (midsummer holiday).

Linked to the broader and more varied tradition of straw carts and lilies, which is widespread in the Ufita Valley area, the Tirata dei Carri Covoni revived a custom known among the peasant class of the community of Frigento. Once the wheat had been harvested, it was customary to set aside a symbolic amount to offer as a gift to Saint Roch, the patron saint of Frigento, as thanks for the good harvest that had been obtained. The grain to be offered to the saint was woven and carefully placed as an ornament on wooden carts pulled by oxen. 

This tradition is renewed today during the festivities of Santa Maria Assunta in Cielo (Saint Mary of the Assumption into Heaven). On 15 August, the feast day of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, there is a parade of sheaves woven and pulled by oxen, together with the statue of the Virgin Mary, along a route that starts at the Sanctuary of the Madonna del Buon Consiglio (Our Lady of Good Counsel) and ends at the area in front of the Church of the Purgatory, where the carts stand to be admired by the faithful and visitors.

A symbol of Frigento's rural tradition, the Tirata dei Carri Covoni revives an ancient and never-ending ritual for the local community.