December 4, 2024 20:00
A few days before the celebrations for Saint Nicholas, the patron saint of Pozza, the traditional devils' race through the streets of "Meida" is revived, in an evening reserved for the most daring of hearts
The arrival of Saint Nicholas is a much-loved festivity in Val di Fassa, particularly in Pozza, where, on 6 December, a beautiful festival celebrates the village's patron saint. According to tradition, the Saint visits children, going from house to house, accompanied by angels and surrounded by the "Krampus", the devils, mythical figures somewhere between the diabolical and the animalistic, feared as much as loved. On Wednesday 4 December, in anticipation of the big parade of 2025, which will see the participation of more than 400 devils from Trentino-South Tyrol-Veneto, the "Krampus da Poza" will gather in the evening for their annual parade. Their "mission" is clear: to frighten not only mischievous children, as an ancient legend has it, but everyone present. At the sound of bells and announced by the sinister clangs of cowbells and chains, the Krampus, wearing goat skins, tall wooden hooves and eerie wooden masks with long tongues and pointed horns, will parade in a noisy procession, shrouded in a dark and mysterious atmosphere. The parade, which this year will take place in a reduced version, will start from the San Nicolò church, after crossing "Strada de Meida", will arrive in the square "Piaza de Comun", where hot tea and mulled wine will warm the spirits of the participants.
In Val di Fassa, during the Advent period, one experiences an atmosphere suspended between the sacred and the profane, in an interweaving of legends and pagan rites linked to the passage of the seasons and the eternal balance between good and evil, expressions of a popular devotion that has always been an integral part of Ladin culture.
