The Varia of Palmi: the UNESCO heritage festival of the Costa Viola

The Varia of Palmi is a processional machine sixteen metres tall and weighing around twenty tonnes, pushed on the shoulders of two hundred men along the town’s main street. At the top, sixteen metres above the ground, sits a local girl: she is the Animella, and she plays the Virgin taken up into heaven. Around her turn the Apostles, the angels and the Padreterno, inside a papier-mâché cloud that stands for the universe.

The tradition began in 1582 with a gift from the senate of Messina, a relic of the Virgin’s hair, and with the cult of Maria Santissima della Sacra Lettera. In December 2013 UNESCO inscribed the Varia on the list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity, together with the other three great Italian shoulder-borne machines, those of Nola, Sassari and Viterbo.

The feast falls on the last Sunday of August, but it is not held every year: editions follow one another at irregular intervals, and that is the first thing to know if you want to see it.

What the Varia is: the machine, the Animella and the figures

The Varia is a processional machine sixteen metres tall and weighing around twenty tonnes, rebuilt from scratch for every edition around a wooden base called the “cippo”. Above the cippo rises a cone-shaped steel frame, covered in white and silver papier-mâché that reproduces clouds, sun and moon: it is the universe, and the Varia carries it through the streets. At the top of the cone a spherical mechanism stands for the globe; on the sphere rests the platform of the Padreterno, and higher still, sixteen metres above the ground, is the seat of the Animella, the girl chosen by popular vote to play the Virgin taken up into heaven. Around them stand more than thirty performers: the Apostles in costume and the little girls playing angels, placed at different heights on the sides of the cloud. During the procession the Padreterno has one precise task, to hold and encourage the Animella, who sways in mid-air along with the steel rod.

The ’mbuttaturi and the scasata along the corso

No engines and no tractors move those twenty tonnes: two hundred men do, the ’mbuttaturi, who push the machine with their shoulders while other locals pull on the ropes. The moment everyone waits for is called the “scasata”: a cannon shot gives the signal and the Varia sets off at speed along corso Giuseppe Garibaldi, covering the roughly seven hundred metres of the ritual route in a single run. At that pace the Animella sways more than a metre and a half at the top, and the crowd on either side answers with a roar. At the end of the corso the machine stops, sets off again in the opposite direction and runs back along the same street to piazza I Maggio, where it is halted for good. Five great wooden beams support the structure, one for each of the old city guilds: craftsmen, oxherds, carters, farmers and sailors.

From 1582 to the UNESCO recognition

The story begins in 1582, when the senate of Messina gave Palmi a relic of the Virgin’s hair to thank the town for the help it had sent during an outbreak of plague. Along with the relic, Palmi took up the Messina custom of celebrating the Assumption with a votive float, and from that the Varia was born. Maria Santissima della Sacra Lettera became patroness of the town in 1733, and the bond with that relic is still the heart of the feast: the day before the scasata, the painting of the Madonna and the reliquary of the Sacred Hair are carried in procession through the streets, in a far more intimate rite than the following day. In December 2013 UNESCO inscribed the Varia on the list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity, within the joint nomination of the great Italian shoulder-borne machines: alongside Palmi are the Gigli of Nola, the Faradda di li candareri of Sassari and the Macchina di Santa Rosa of Viterbo.

When it takes place and why it is not a yearly festival

The Varia takes place on the last Sunday of August, but not every year: that is the first thing to know before planning a trip. The machine is rebuilt from scratch for each edition, and editions follow one another at irregular intervals, decided case by case. Over the past twenty years the Varia has come out in 2008, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2019, 2023 and 2024: four or five years have sometimes passed between one and the next. The scasata takes place in the late afternoon, when the sun begins to drop over the corso and the light softens on the papier-mâché cloud. Even in years without the Varia, at the end of August Palmi honours its patroness with the procession of the painting and the reliquary of the Sacred Hair, but the passage of the great machine is another matter and has to be caught in the right year.

How the day unfolds and where to stand

On the days of an edition Palmi fills up: reports speak of more than a hundred thousand people along the route. Corso Garibaldi is closed and barriered off hours in advance, and anyone who wants a front-row spot arrives in the early afternoon. The best places are the wider stretches of the corso and piazza I Maggio, where the machine comes to a halt at the end; the balconies of the buildings along the corso remain the classic vantage point for locals. If you are with small children, stay away from the stretches where the push concentrates, because during the scasata the whole crowd moves as one. Bring water and closed shoes: you stand for hours on the granite paving of the corso, still warm from the sun. After the passage the town stays out until late, among stalls, music and the restaurants of the centre, which work flat out that evening.

Getting to Palmi

By car, Palmi has its own exit on the A2 del Mediterraneo motorway (Salerno-Reggio Calabria), just over two kilometres from the centre. On Varia days the centre is closed to traffic and the car parks near the corso fill up early: it is better to leave the car in the upper part of town or along the road that drops towards the sea, and walk from there. By train, Palmi station is on the Tyrrhenian line between Reggio Calabria and Lamezia Terme, served by the regional trains that run along the coast. The nearest airports are Lamezia Terme, about 70 km away, and Reggio Calabria, about 60 km: from both you take the A2 towards Palmi. From the centre, Marinella and the Tonnara are a few minutes by car down the road to the sea, and Monte Sant’Elia is a handful of kilometres of hairpin bends away.

What to see in Palmi and along the Costa Viola

If you arrive a few days early, Palmi is worth the time even without the festival. In the upper part of town, the Casa della Cultura “Leonida Repaci” houses the Calabrian Museum of Ethnography and Folklore “Raffaele Corso”, one of the leading ethno-anthropological museums in southern Italy: inside are the tools of work in the fields and at sea, the costumes and the objects of popular devotion, the very world the Varia comes from. In the garden around the Casa della Cultura stand two Roman columns brought from the archaeological area of ancient Taureana. From Monte Sant’Elia the view takes in the whole coast as far as the Strait and, on clear days, the Aeolian Islands; below the town, Marinella and the Tonnara have pale shingle, deep water and the Scoglio dell’Ulivo just offshore. To the north, towards Taureana, the archaeological park of the Tauriani tells the story of the city that stood here before Palmi.

Where to stay: holiday homes in Palmi and on the Costa Viola

For the Varia, sleeping in Palmi or within a few kilometres makes a real difference: once the scasata is over you walk home or drive a short stretch, without getting caught in the evening traffic. A holiday home gives you your own space, a kitchen of your own and the freedom to come back whenever you like after a day spent standing on the corso. Our places on the Costa Viola range from one-bedroom flats for two to apartments for families and groups, some close to the centre, others nearer the sea between Marinella and the Tonnara, handy for beach days before and after the festival. The last week of August is the busiest time of year around here, and in a Varia year even more so: check availability and send us a direct request, and we will find the right home for you together.

Frequently asked questions about the Varia of Palmi

When does the Varia of Palmi take place?
On the last Sunday of August, but not every year: editions follow one another at irregular intervals. In recent years the machine came out in 2016, 2019, 2023 and 2024.

How tall is the Varia and how much does it weigh?
Sixteen metres tall and around twenty tonnes. It is pushed on the shoulders of two hundred ’mbuttaturi along corso Garibaldi.

Who is the Animella?
She is the girl who sits at the top of the machine and plays the Virgin taken up into heaven. She is chosen by popular vote and is held by the Padreterno, the performer standing just below her.

What is the scasata?
It is the machine setting off, announced by a cannon shot: the Varia runs the roughly seven hundred metres of corso Garibaldi in one go, then comes back and stops in piazza I Maggio.

Why is the Varia UNESCO heritage?
In December 2013 it was added to the intangible cultural heritage of humanity together with the Gigli of Nola, the Faradda of Sassari and the Macchina di Santa Rosa of Viterbo, as an example of the great Italian shoulder-borne machines.

Where is the best place to watch the Varia?
Along the wider stretches of corso Garibaldi or in piazza I Maggio, where the machine stops at the end of the route. Anyone wanting a front-row spot arrives in the early afternoon.