Sassari and the Candelieri: a mutual and unbreakable love. Tens of thousands of people watched last night's descent of the candles, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and symbol of the city. A huge popular celebration accompanied the descent, which began on time at 6:00 PM with the passage of the Braccianti (workers), and was broadcast live on Videolina.
Crowd bath
A veritable carnage, especially between Largo Cavallotti and Corso Vittorio Emanuele, crowded along the banks of the streets, cheering the bearers and their performances. But thousands of people, including many tourists, had already crowded the historic center since morning, moving from Via Sant'Apollinare to Via Maddalena, from Largo Infermeria San Pietro to Piazza Santa Caterina, and all the way to Largo Macao and Via delle Muraglie, the epicenters of the thirteen guilds' headquarters. Each of them was busy finalizing the remaining details for the evocative Dressing of the Candelieri, following the day's opening ceremony at 9 a.m. by the Massai at the City Hall, in the presence of the mayor, with the traditional decoration of the flag and its display from the balcony to begin preparations for the Festha Manna.
Tribute
This edition was marred by two losses for the Farmers' Guilds and the Piccapietre Guilds. The former lost former candlestick bearer Franco Sanna, who died on Wednesday, and the latter lost Pietro Garau, father of Gianpiero, the guild's longtime drummer. Out of respect, the latter marched through the procession at a walking pace and without the beating of drums. The other associations, however, were filled with joy, chants, and distribution of food, drinks, and merchandise, primarily performing candlestick dances, a taste of the evening show. Performances were introduced, as in the case of the Ortolani, with a prayer to the Virgin of the Assumption, to whom the entire procession has always been dedicated. Right in front of her statue in the churchyard of Santa Maria in Betlem, late at night, the vow was made that for five centuries has asked the Madonna to protect the city.
Promoted
Applause and cheers for the mayor at Faradda. Mascia's honeymoon continues a year after taking office. His treacherous exit from the main doors of the Teatro Civico last night, which earned some of his predecessors a barrage of boos, did not have any noisy consequences, at least not those expressing dissent. It essentially did not change much from the pattern seen and heard last year, where, however, only a month had passed since the municipal elections that had handed Palazzo Ducale by a wide margin to the Democratic Party representative. After the toast to "A zent'anni" at around 9:15 PM, he was greeted with applause in the packed first-floor hall of the city hall before even crossing the threshold of the municipal building. A show of support from Sassari, which responded unitedly to the call for action, ratifying its support for its first representative.
Emanuele Floris