"Holy Week 2026 in Giovinazzo: Programme of Arciconfraternita Maria SS. del Carmine" by Carlo Coppola

As Easter approaches, the town of Giovinazzo prepares to experience one of the most intense and identity-defining moments of the liturgical year: Holy Week, the beating heart of popular devotion and confraternal life.

For 2026, the Arciconfraternita Maria SS. del Carmine, based at the Church of San Giovanni Battista Church, presents a rich programme of events that harmoniously combine spirituality, tradition, and culture.

Under the guidance of Spiritual Assistant Pasquale Rago and President Nino Marzella, the confraternity renews its commitment to preserving a centuries-old heritage, deeply rooted in local history and shared across the communities of northern Bari province.

Celebrations will begin on 22 March with the Lenten concert Anima Christi, a moment of spiritual elevation entrusted to sacred music, capable of introducing the faithful into the atmosphere of reflection characteristic of Lent.

The journey will continue with the Vespers of Palm Sunday and the solemn Palm Sunday celebrations, lived in communion with the other confraternities of the town. These days serve as preparation for the Easter Triduum, which will begin on Holy Thursday with the exposition of the statue of the Agonising Christ—a powerful symbol inviting meditation on the mystery of the Passion.

Particularly significant is Good Friday, marked by the traditional meditation on the Three Hours of Agony and, in the evening, the procession of the statues of the Passion. This event remains an authentic expression of popular piety, involving the entire community as it has done for centuries.

Holy Saturday will offer a moment of profound contemplation with The Lament over the Dead Christ – in concert, guiding the faithful towards the light of the Resurrection in an atmosphere of shared silence and hope.

Holy Week thus confirms itself not only as a liturgical season, but as a deeply communal experience that unites generations, strengthening the bond between faith, memory, and identity. In this journey, the confraternity continues to stand as a living sign of a tradition that renews itself, safeguarding the past while looking to the future with renewed hope, in the spirit of a lived and shared faith.