Today, the band played and marched around the town, then there was a church service followed by a religious procession. The fireworks erupted with explosive bangers and zinging rockets as the mother church emptied and then the band struck up again and escorted the statue of one of the patron saints carried aloft by a dozen or more local men on its slow parade around the town. Liberation Day in San Marco d’Alunzio is a day of solemn remembrance, a festival and a public holiday. The week before there was a Sport e Antichi Valori or day of ‘sport and ancient values’ with local groups dancing and music playing below the war memorial on Via Aluntina before everybody headed to the sports centre. We await the next celebrations, the Bosco in Festa, celebrating the natural heritage of the Nebrodi National Park on 1st May. The energy and self-organisation of this small town is remarkable.