| 15 - 16 e 17 agosto
Festa Patronale
In August, as every year, by tradition, are celebrated in Valenzano the festivities to commemorate San Rocco, the patron saint of the country.
San Rocco is the patron saint of pilgrims and travelers and is also revered as a protector of the disabled.
The cult of the saint, in fact, spread throughout Western Europe in the second half of the fifteenth century, following the branch of the terrible plague that raged in the city.
 According to legend, on his deathbed, distressed by the knowledge of a humanity tormented and devastated by the plague, San Rocco begged the Father Almighty so that might give him the power to heal from this terrible evil and anyone who invoke, to restore the health of the body, to whoever wished.
The traditional iconography of the saint, shows him in the company of a dog who, according to legend, he would rescue as he lay sick, bringing him a piece of bread furtively subtracted from the table of a nobleman, wearing a dress pilgrim highlights on the thigh, a wound caused by the plague.
The patron saint of Valenzano, in honor of San Rocco, begins the evening of 15 August and continues until 17. The festivities are announced by joyful and loud explosions produced by the explosion of colorful fireworks that light up the city with their glow and their luster.
On August 16, the anniversary of the death of the Holy pilgrim, is the most important day of the festival. From the early hours of the morning you can go to church to attend mass in honor of the saint. Later in the morning, for the main streets of the village, there is a procession of the statue of the great San Rocco, followed by a wave of faithful who, at a measured pace and with particular devotion, participate in the parade. During the procession, the statue is accompanied by bands playing with pace, involving a multitude of people who poured through the streets and all those who, conveniently from the balconies of their homes, looking adoringly the fluctuating behavior of the statue of the saint . On the occasion of the patron, along with the statue is carried in procession a relic of San Rocco, in a shrine in the sacristy of the Church matrix. Early in the afternoon, according to tradition, is the delivery of the keys of the city of Valenzano in San Rocco by the Mayor, indicating the entrance of the Saint in the country and the warm welcome from the people.
On August 17, the festivities continue; orchestras and bands alternate with crackling fireworks, giving the town of Valenzano looks charming and suave.
In the three-day festival, the lanes of Valenzano teeming with people; many are in fact the visitors from neighboring countries and not, who each year commemorate the saint with their presence. San Rocco is still one of the most venerated saints in the Italian folk tradition.
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