PASQUELLA
January 6
The Pasquella festival started in 1985, the first of its kind in the Marche region. It reclaims and revitalizes a propitiatory moment of the Marche peasant tradition lost at the end of sharecropping, marked by ritual songs of begging. Every year on the day of the Epiphany, January 6th, as done in the past, the Pasquella singing is carried out by groups of singers going from house to house, as a wish for health, well-being and abundance, in exchange for small offers of money, food and wine. This event focuses on the repossession and revitalization of one of the living testimonies of popular culture, linked to the begging rituals of the winter solstice and its forms of propitiation linked to pre-Christian beliefs and ancient fertility rites.
For the whole day, Montecarotto becomes the stage for the performance of various groups of singers, starting with “La Macina” from Monsano, moving on to impromptu and free groups. All of this for the joy and involvement of those present who can also be enticed and warmed further by roasted chestnuts and mulled wine.
In the afternoon, the Pasquella usually also takes place in the Municipal theatre, in which the songs and repertoires of the various groups are accompanied by narration and a careful research of traditions, under the guidance of Gastone Pietrucci of “La Macina”. Since 2013, during the Pasquella, a photographic competition has taken place, welcoming photographers and enthusiasts to portray the colours and sounds of this unique day, allowing the memory to remain and to build a multimedia heritage on traditions.
PASQUELLA SONG
The New Year has already come
Since God sent it to us
He sent it to us with joy
Happy new year and Epiphany
He sent it to us with joy
Happy new year and Epiphany
Be quick and don’t be late
That the frost falls from the sky
It makes us tremble
Happy new year and Epiphany
It makes us tremble
Happy new year and Epiphany
We pray to Saint Anthony
Who looks at all the cattle
From the plague and hunger
And from any disease
And from any disease
Happy new year and Epiphany
If you give us some ham
I have a very gourmand friend
Every now and then he picks one slice
Happy new year and Epiphany
Every now and then he picks one slice
Happy new year and Epiphany
La Vergara (the housewife) up the stairs
Something she will give us
If without anything she sends us away
Happy new year and Epiphany
If without anything she sends us away
Happy new year and Epiphany
He heads her up the stairs
‘No ham crave to give
But the husband says no with his eyes
Lock in place, this ham
But the husband says no with his eyes
Lock in place, this ham
If you give us a piece of pork
We don’t care if there is hair
We’ll scrape it
Happy new year and Epiphany
We’ll scrape it
Happy new year and Epiphany
There that Jordan River
Where water becomes wine
Where Child Jesus got washed
Where he got washed his beautiful face
Where he got washed his beautiful face
Happy new year and Epiphany
We come from around here
Please don’t take the oven pole
We have come for joy
If you don’t want us, we go away
We have come for joy
If you don’t want us, we go away.
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