41st International Chimney Sweep Gathering in Santa Maria Maggiore, Valle Vigezzo (VB)

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Some documents report that Vigezzo farmers and winemakers traveled to work in neighboring valleys in the 13th century, and a century later, other sources indicate the presence of people from Vigezzo in Paris. However, it is in the 17th century that large-scale emigration begins: Spanish domination, famine, poverty, and then the plague lead people to seek fortune elsewhere. Various social classes were involved: in France, the Mellerio di Craveggia jewelers, in Germany, the inventor of Eau de Cologne Giovanni Paolo Feminis, and then in Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, England, Spain, Argentina, the United States, and Central America, not to mention different regions of Italy. Artists (such as Vigezzo painters in Paris), merchants, jewelers, bankers, but above all, workers, farmers, loggers, and the famous “rüsca,” the chimney sweeps, reached all these countries. The relative wealth of the valley and the fine buildings in the various villages derive from the fortunes that many of these migrants managed to build and bring home.

A close relationship between these migrants, both of Italian descent and otherwise, and the valley continues over time thanks to chimney sweep associations present on all continents. Every year, on the first weekend of September, they gather in Santa Maria Maggiore for the International Chimney Sweep Gathering, now in its 41st edition in 2024. The history of the gathering tells of forty years of evocative moments, difficult stories, joy, and carefreeness despite the historical memory of a very tough profession. Over 1000 “black men” from all over the world come to celebrate their trade, which has its most authentic roots here.

A profession that represented a job opportunity for men and boys in the valley for centuries, but forced them to migrate and travel the roads of Europe. From August 29th to September 2nd, the Ossola Valley will be the setting for a series of events capable of attracting, as always, thousands of tourists and travelers eager to come into contact with an ancient and fascinating world, that of the chimney sweep trade.

A long weekend of celebration and meetings between the many groups of chimney sweeps and the people of Vigezzo and tourists, characterized by the black smudge of soot: a mandatory sign of good luck that everyone must have marked on their cheeks by a chimney sweep.