The festival in honour of Saint
Efisio blended with this ancient agricultural festival to produce a celebration of both faith and
tradition.
In the beginning the festival was only a short procession which accompanied the statue of the
Saint to Nora. The original participants in the procession were; the brothers and sisters of the
Arch confraternity of Gonfalone, a small military escort, the "AlterNos" who represented the
mayor of Cagliari and the Dean of the Metropolitan Cathedral who represented the Archbishop
of Cagliari.
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In the following years others
joined the procession. The first to join were the "traccas" which are ox carts (a sort of primitive
"camper" or "caravan") used by the country families for transportation.
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Later horsemen from the
Campidano region, groups in traditional costumes from all over Sardinia and militia who were
provided by the ancient quarters (districts) of Cagliari, especially Villanova, joined the
procession.
Nowadays 5000 people take part in the procession. At the front of the procession there are
about 30 wooden wheeled, ox drawn "traccas", beautifully decorated with produce from the land,
utensils and typical Sardinian foods.
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