Festivals of Sardinia

In early spring, the Sardinian carnival season, with its strange and ancient rituals, starts on the night of the feast of Sant’Antonio Abate in January, with bonfires lighting up towns and villages. In the Barbagia region the carnival unfolds with processions made up of people in sombre masks, who move with rhythmical step to the haunting sound of bells, recalling ancient rural rites.

The important religious festival of Easter is celebrated with numerous solemn ceremonies. In Castelsardo, all the people of the town join together for a meal at lunchtime, before a candlelit procession and chanting choirs lead the way round the town in the dark.