Freedom Festival: bonfires in the Waldensian valleys

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It was 1174 when a rich merchant from Lyon took a vow of poverty, giving birth to the Waldensian movement. In these 850 years, one of the places where many of them took refuge from persecution and gave life to thriving communities were the three Waldensian Valleys in the Turin area. The Waldensian community is also an important point of reference for the community dimension for those who are not Waldensians. From February 3 to November 14, the various celebratory events will cover the whole of 2024.

One of them, however, is a recurring event year after year. On 17 February 1848 the sovereign of the Kingdom of Sardinia, Carlo Alberto, published the Letters Patent which extended civil and political rights to the Waldensians.

The event was marked and celebrated with large demonstrations and bonfires (bonfires) from village to village and from valley to valley.

Since then, the annual festival begins on the night of 16 February, when the Waldensian communities light bonfires in various places in the Pinerolo valleys, setting fire to large piles carefully prepared in the previous weeks, collecting wood in the operations of cleaning the woods and vineyards.

On the evening of 16 February, you can then join a community torchlight procession to the bonfire lighting site, where you will witness the festivities with community prayers and songs and the distribution of typical mulled wine. You will realize how much this is a very participatory, aggregative and community moment, not of an ecclesiastical nature, but of a social and civil nature, in which the whole population participates.

On the morning of 17 February, you will be able to participate in the religious worship and procession with Waldensian clothes of one of the many communities in the Pinerolo area. You’ll also be able to attend theatrical events and attend community meetings.

You will also be able to taste the protagonist in the kitchens, namely the traditional “Supa Beard“, a dish that takes its name from the “beard” (in Piedmontese “uncle”) and “Barbet”, a word used by the Waldensians in the Middle Ages to refer to preachers “Barbet” who went from the valleys of western Piedmont to preach the faith in the rest of Europe.