A press conference today presented ‘Baarìa Fest 2024’, the programme of events created to celebrate the great summer event that the city of Bagheria has always organised in honour of its patron saint, Saint Joseph. Cheering up the celebrations will be the great actor Nino Frassica with Los Plaggers Band. The showman, flanked by a band of six musicians, after having been a protagonist in theatres, now faces his tour in the main Italian squares, among which Bagheria.
Although the Feast of Saint Joseph falls on 19 March, historically and traditionally the celebrations have always been organised on the first weekend of August, to allow the many Bagheria citizens who have emigrated to return to their native town and relive the local tradition together with distant relatives and all those who want to enjoy the beauty and tradition of Sicily and Bagheria.
The programme, with a preview on 31 July, will be spread over three days: 3, 4 and 5 August 2024.
Present at the press conference were the mayor of Bagheria, Filippo Maria Tripoli, and the archpriest of Bagheria, Father Giovanni Lamendola, who declared that this will be his last edition of the festival as archpriest of Bagheria having reached retirement age. Also present were several councillors and municipal councillors.

<<The festival is a moment for the community to come together and share the popular, cultural, historical, artistic and food and wine traditions of Bagheria>>, said the mayor, who after thanking the confraternity and all those who have collaborated, emphasised that this edition gives space to Bagheria artists who have made their way to the regional level and enhance the City of Villas and Taste.
<<We give space to the values that are the basis of the Gospel>>said Father Lamendola <<solidarity, welcome, respect for women, the poor, the different, not the value of hoarding wealth but that of sharing and sharing>>.

The three days will feature associations, professionals, and stakeholders from the Sicilian territory who work together to promote Bagheria’s tradition. Each day will open with the classic Sicilian Alborata announcing the festivities, and the Bagheria drummers and Majorettes will liven up the city streets with their performances typical of traditional Sicilian events.
The city streets will be illuminated by the classic Sicilian Luminarie, which were originally linked to celebrations of a religious nature, but are now also seen in less spiritual contexts.

The programme of celebrations starts today, with a performance by the Saint Ignatius of Loyola Choir, at Villa Butera, at 9 pm, in the Fumagalli-Martorana hall.

Saturday 3 August will open with the ‘Historic Shops’ event, also at Villa Butera. The Municipality of Bagheria has established the ‘Historic Shops of Bagheria’ award, which, from year to year, is assigned to activities in the area that have been active for more than fifty years (even non-continuous). Considered are commercial activities, catering and beverage outlets that are now part of the city’s history and identity and that, according to the municipal administration, must be protected.
At 16:00 and until 24:00, the Baaria San Giuseppe Village starts at Corso Umberto I and Villetta Ugdulena. This is a moment of community sharing, where it is possible to discover tradition with the craft market, while enjoying the festive atmosphere that will animate the city.
Also on Saturday, organised by BC Sicilia, there will be a guided tour of the Votive Wayside Shrines, with a rendezvous at the Mother Church, at 9 pm.
This will be followed by the ‘Jolyne e VintageBand’ show in Piazza Madrice at 9.30 pm and the show of the magician Plip, Davide Tusa, at 10.30 pm in Piazza Matrice.

The Sunday of 4 August will start with a mini touring concert, at 10.00 am, in the old town and the ‘Baaria San Giuseppe Village’ in Corso Umberto and Villetta Ugdulena will reopen from 4.00 pm to midnight, which will also be repeated on Monday 5.
The secular events will make way for the religious ones on Sunday 4, starting at 6.30 pm with the Holy Mass at the Mother Church and the subsequent procession of the Saint Joseph simulacrum starting at 7.30 pm. The float of the patron saint, St Joseph, will parade through the various neighbourhoods and will be accompanied by an itinerant concert by a local association, guardian of the Sicilian band tradition, and the Baaria drummers’ group. The route will start from Piazza Madrice, Corso Butera, Via Favazzi, Via Caronia, Via Palagonia, Via Inzerillo, Via del Cavaliere, Corso Umberto I and end in Piazza Madrice.
In the evening, starting at 9 pm, ‘Baarìa Music concert’, a concert in piazza Matrice featuring two Bagherese artists Sara Lanza and Giusy Filì with their respective bands.

Monday 5 August sees the return of the ‘San Giuseppe Lavoratore’ Prize at 4 p.m. at Villa Cattolica. On the occasion of the Baarìa Fest 2024, the San Giuseppe Lavoratore Prize constitutes an important opportunity for the cultural and scientific revival of Sicily and our country, to valorise all those who, in the Sicilian territory and specifically in Bagheria, have distinguished themselves for their commitment, dedication, passion and valorisation of topics ranging from mathematical and scientific sciences to artistic-cultural and craftsmanship.
Like every self-respecting edition of the feast of the patron saint, the parade of the Sicilian carts is unfailing, starting at 6 pm.
The Sicilian cart is a symbol of being Sicilian, and Bagheria will display the art and tradition typical of its land and of the local master cart-makers, showing off the beauty of the carts and horses festively adorned. During the parade, there will also be a mini travelling concert and Tamburinai di Baaria. It will start from the market area in viale Bagnera and continue along via Federico II, corso Butera and end in corso Umberto I.
At 8.30 p.m. after the DJ Set by Loda club (Danilo Lo Jacono) in Piazza Madrice, followed by the ‘Baarìa Sicilian Cabaret and Music Concert’, at 9.30 p.m., a musical concert will be held in Piazza Matrice by artists from Sicily and beyond, promoting music, the culture inherent to Sicilian identity and belonging, in collaboration with ‘Baaria Sicilian Concert 2024’.
Star of the evening Nino Frassica, who will be accompanied by Los Plaggers, a band of six musicians; the name Plaggers is a fusion of Platters and plagiarism. The show is a highly original and enthralling concert/cabaret musical journey. A great feast, a musical memory operation with a repertoire consisting of over one hundred revised and corrected songs, in which very famous songs, while retaining their own identity, are cut and stitched together in Frassica’s style. Songs such as ‘Cacao Meravigliao’, ‘Grazie dei Fiori bis’ or ‘Viva la mamma col pomodoro’ to which ‘Viva la pappa col pomodoro’ will be added, but also ‘Mamma mia dammi cento lire’ and theme songs of yesteryear such as ‘Portobello’ or the music of advertising; and again ‘Campagna’ becomes ‘Voglio andare a vivere con i cugini di campagna’, and then ‘Siamo donne’ that ends with ‘Donna a Surriento’, ‘Neri per sempre’, ‘Tuca tuca’ etc…
The audience is also the protagonist, overwhelmed by the fast-paced rhythm of the show, while enjoying Frassica’s musical inventions, they can sing and participate directly in the show thanks to medleys dedicated to the music of the 60s and 70s, tributes to Santana and Battisti, etc…, until an atmosphere of complicity and understanding is created, thanks to the Sicilian artist’s inexhaustible comic vérve.
Closing the 2024 edition of the patron saint’s festival is the unfailing ‘Baaria Fest’ fireworks display at midnight, in via Borsellino.