A Faradda filled with joy and participation, but with attention already turning to what still needs to be improved. The day after the 2026 Discesa dei Candelieri, Sassari Mayor Giuseppe Mascia has offered his first assessment of the Festha Manna, while returning to one of the issues closest to the city's heart: the future of Santa Maria di Betlem.

Speaking to L'Unione Sarda, the mayor described the event as “a wonderful Faradda filled with joy, an explosion of happiness”.

Mascia: “A positive sign from the city”

For the mayor, the response from the people of Sassari throughout 14 August was a positive sign for the city administration.

Mascia, however, was careful not to treat the success of the celebrations as an end in itself, stressing the need to continue addressing the city's problems.

“We must keep working, improve in many areas, keep our heads down and address the many things in the city that are not working as they should,” he explained.

During the Faradda, the mayor received a warm welcome along the route, including after the traditional “a zent'anni” at Palazzo di Città, when he joined the procession heading towards Santa Maria di Betlem.

Santa Maria remains the biggest concern

It is the church at the heart of the Candelieri tradition, however, that Mascia focused on for a significant part of his remarks.

Santa Maria di Betlem remains partially inaccessible due to the lengthy and complex structural reinforcement and restoration work currently under way.

As a result, the 2026 Faradda once again concluded in the square outside the church, where the Vow to the Virgin of the Assumption was renewed.

It is an arrangement made necessary by the ongoing work, but one that the mayor hopes will soon give way to the return of the traditional ceremony inside the church.

“The city demands the return of Santa Maria”

Mascia explained that the required procedures have been initiated and that further assessments requested by the Superintendency still need to be completed, including a study involving technical calculations that will determine how the work should proceed.

The ultimate goal is to finally return the church to the city.

“We hope to have our Santa Maria di Betlem back soon,” the mayor said.

He then expressed a hope already looking ahead to next year's 14 August:

“I hope we can hold the Faradda inside Santa Maria.”

Attention is already turning to the next Faradda

The church of Santa Maria represents much more than simply the final destination of the procession.

It is traditionally where the Candelieri enter at the end of their long journey through Sassari and where one of the most important religious moments of the Festha Manna takes place.

In recent years, the final ceremony has had to adapt to the condition of the building, moving outside onto the church square.

The 2026 Faradda has only just ended, but one hope for the future is already clear.

To once again bring the night of 14 August to a close where Sassari's tradition says it belongs: inside Santa Maria di Betlem.