Events 
THE WEEKLY FAIR
It is a trade place where you can live again the anachronistic experience of bargaining about the price of products; here experienced customers and cunning sellers compete, in a manner really reminiscent of the oriental bazar. The open-air-market takes place in Contrada Botte, where you can find any kind of products at convenient prices.
Date: On Tuesdays - Place: Contrada Botte
SANTU LAZZARU
It is an ancient custom according to which during the period before Easter people used to go and sing a traditional song in the richest farms of the town, whose owners offered drinks and food to the singers as a reward. This operation was called ‘portare le serenate’ (to play some serenades). This custom has been recently revived in Casarano by the association Centro Storico, using the same traditional song of the past but giving to the event a solidarity purpose. Hundreds of musicians and singers parade along the streets of the town on Thursdays before Easter.
MAUNDY THURSDAY
On Maundy Thursday evening, soon after the Mass celebrating the Last Supper and starting the Easter Triduum, the Altar of Reposition is prepared in every church, and the Eucharist is put on it, among other symbolic elements and in a sober but fascinating setting; the believers call it Sepolcro ‘Sepulchre’. It is a tradition coming from the Carolingian Age, spread all over Southern Italy and alled sibburchi ‘sepulchres’ in Casarano, though the Church has more than once tried to make it clear that it has no connection with Christ’s tomb, since it refers instead to the Eucharistic bread. On the altar there are usually symbols of the Last Supper and of the Resurrection: bread, wine, the thirteen plates of the Apostles and the tabernacle containing the Eucharist. Sometimes there are also veils, white flowers and little wheat plants grown far from light so that they assume a white colour symbolizing the Resurrection of Christ which dispels the darkness of Death. On Maundy Thursday you find people coming and going all over the streets of the town, in accordance with a very ancient rite. The young however seem to have lost the spirit of penance which characterized this event in the past.
GOOD FRIDAY PROCESSION
This moving, suggestive procession going along most of the streets of the town has become a tradition. The passage of Jesus carrying the heavy Cross and whipped by a centurion is a really
dramatic moment. Men and women disguise themeselves as the formation of Roman centurions, the pious women, the Dark Virgin and so on to recreate the Passion of Christ. Behind them a big choir accompanied by the citizen’s band sing ‘Vieni o morte’ (come you death), the heartrending hymn written and set to music by Gaetano Romano, the famous poet from Casarano said to have died right on the Good Friday before the first public performance of the piece.
CAREMME
The Caremma is a sort of big ugly doll made up of rags and straw and looking like an old woman, which is usually set on balconies and terraces during Lent. She is dressed in black and has a black shawl on her head. She has an old lined face. She holds a spindle and a distaff in her hand so she resembles the Fates which according to the Greek mythology wove the thread of life. Somebody says that they used to set an orange with seven hen feathers stuck radially into it at her symbolizes Lent, which is actually a period of penance after the excessive fun of Carnival, a period of purification before the resurrection of Christ. It used to be burnt on Easter Eve, that is on the so called Sabato Santo (holy Saturday); fire should symbolize purification as well as the vivifying warmth of spring after a bitter winter. They used to burn the Caremma in public at crossroads as a propitiatory rite against evil, misery and poverty. The word caremma comes through the French carême from the ecclesiastical latin quadragesima(m), where die(m) is understood, which means ‘40th (day before Easter)’.
LIVING CHRISTMAS CRIB
Promoted by the association Amici del Presepe, it is judged one of the best living cribs in the province by the local press and the public opinion and it is now at its 10th edition. It is set in the historical centre of the town, among its old houses, its narrow lanes and its ancient oil mills. It is just thanks to this event that the oil mills have been revalued as important monuments of the town. On the other hand their use is a peculiarity of the living Crib of Casarano which distinguishes it from the other living cribs in the Province. A big procession of disguised people carrying the Infant Jesus into his cave starts from Piazza San Domenico on 25th December at midnight and officially opens the living crib to the audience. It is then closed on 6th January, when the Magi, accompanied by reed-pipes and reed-flutes, parade on their horses along the streets of the historical centre to the oil mill where the nativity is set up.
Date: 25th December – 6th January, Info: www.presepecasarano.it