Easter in Sardinia: 5 experiences to attend in the Holy Week 2026

When the weather is good and with the progressive lengthening of the days, inevitably the desire to travel returns for discovering new fantastic experiences, fascinating traditions and places full of emotions. And what better occasion than the Easter holidays to experience a new adventure?

Warmly celebrated with rituals and customs of great historical and spiritual relevance, Easter is the most important and heartfelt religious holiday in Sardinia, a crucial moment to cultivate the cultural identity of the territory and its people, an integral part of of the background of Sardinian cultural and religious traditions that skillfully combines the sacred with local folk traditions.

If you’re planning to spend the next Easter holidays in Sardinia, please check out the rich program Salude & Trigu: there are extraordinary events, experiences and destinations that you absolutely can’t miss on this exciting journey through faith, beauty, traditions and food delicacies. Let's check them out!

Enjoying Easter in Sardinia (Sa Pasca Manna) is an opportunity for the traveler to lose themselves - only metaphorically! - in a mosaic of centuries-old traditions, evocative rites, unique emotions and authentic flavors, for a truly special holiday.

Thus, in the heart of its spring, the island transforms into a stage of fascinating processions, chants and popular customs, in an atmosphere of deep and intimate spirituality.

From north to south of the region, whether in the major cities or the smaller villages, Holy Week in Sardinia is marked by events and experiences that turn on all the passion of the local culture in moments that mix faith, beauty and pathos:

· S'Iscravamentu, celebrated on Good Friday to commemorate the deposition of Christ from the Cross;

· S'Incontru, celebrated on the morning of Easter Sunday to stage the emotional encounter between the risen Jesus and Holy Mary;

· Sos Misterios, celebrated along the whole Holy Week with the processions of Mysteries accompanied by devotees belonging to local brotherhoods.

But there are so many local rituals and traditions on Easter in Sardinia. Following, here are 5 exciting experiences to join in the Holy Week and a few advice on the best destinations to visit!

This spring you can discover and experience first-hand the emotions of Easter in Sardinia as well, the perfect opportunity to visit the most magical island in the Mediterranean on a journey that will amaze you!

Easter celebrations in Sardinia emphasize not only the faith, but also the sense of belonging to the territory and the great creative and artistic flair of local communities, expressed through stunning artisan sacred images, floral decorations and spiritual chants in Sardinian language.

If you're thinking about planning a trip for the Easter holidays in 2026 (Holy Week begins Sunday, March 29 and ends Monday, April 6) and you have chosen Sardinia as your ideal destination, we recommend five unmissable events for unforgettable experiences that will warm the hearts of all participants:

· the Lunissanti, Prucissiuni and Ilcravamentu in the beautiful setting of Castelsardo;

· the Cerques and Desclavament in the hispanic magic of the city of Alghero;

· the Sos Sepurcros and the passionate devotion of the Gosos in the village of Orosei;

· the procession of Sas Chilcas and the wandering of Mary in Cuglieri and Santu Lussurgiu;

· the march of the Sos Misterios and the ghostly Baballottis in the town of Iglesias.

The celebrations for Sa Pasca Manna are among the most anticipated and heartfelt events in Sardinia and one of the most interesting destinations for Easter holidays in Sardinia is certainly Castelsardo, a splendid seaside town in the north which boasts a rich tradition about the Holy Week.

Among the most exciting rituals for Easter in Castelsardo there’s the solemn procession of Lunissanti, on Holy Monday, a real pilgrimage on foot that actively involves the devotees. It begins with the celebration of the mass at dawn and it continues until late evening with the long march of believers towards the enchanting Abbey Nostra Signora di Tergu.

Worthy of mention are also the Prucissiuni on Holy Thursday, a rite of great pathos focused on the meeting between the wooden simulacra of Holy Mary and Christ agonizing over his suffering, and Ilcravamentu on Good Friday, a representation of the deposition of Jesus from the cross.

Dates: Monday, March 30, 2026 (Lunissanti); Thursday, April 2, 2026 (Prucissiuni); Friday, April 3, 2026 (Ilcravamentu).

Local tips: Not to be missed the evocative Easter mass with the celebration of S’Incontru of the simulacra of the Risen Christ with the Virgin, an experience made even more intense by the impressive sea view given by this location.

Useful info: Given the distribution of these experiences throughout Holy Week, it is advisable to stay in Castelsardo for several days.

Many typical Sardinian customs related to the Easter boast hundreds of years of history, the result of the influence of the Spanish domination that for centuries has mixed with the local folk tradition, defining in a really unique way the cultural identity of the region.

An important example is the Setmana Santa celebrated in the picturesque Alghero, the most Spanish city in Sardinia.

The two most iconic and exciting moments of the Easter celebrations in Alghero, colorful, passionate and full of sensations, inherited from the folk culture of the Barceloneta, are certainly the Cerques and the Desclavament.

The first are the main event of Holy Thursday and represent the search for the tomb of Jesus by the Virgin Mary, while the second is comparable to the rite of Ilcravamentu, therefore the deposition of the simulacrum of Christ from the cross on Good Friday, but is celebrated in a solemn way at the town’s Cathedral as a real funeral ritual.

Dates: Thursday, April 2, 2026 (Cerques); Friday, April 3, 2026 (Desclavament).

Local tips: Do not miss the solemn mass on Easter Sunday, with the celebration of the traditional S’Incontru at the iconic Bastions of the town on a seaside view.

Useful info: The area around Alghero offers multiple travel options for those who want to enrich their itinerary by visiting unique places, such as the nuraghe Palmavera and the natural park Porto Conte.

While in some places across Sardinia Holy Thursday is dedicated to particular processions or to the Spanish ritual of the searches, in others this day within the Holy Week is instead focused on the artistic aspect and the sense of community.

Places like Orosei, a town within Baronie on the eastern coast of the island, with the celebration of Sos Sepurcros with the visit to the tombs set up in the local churches.

Taking part in this is a special experience, where the purity of the sacred is embellished by the beauty of the creativity of devotees, decorating the crucifixes with a multitude of lit candles and refined floral decorations to make an even more mystical atmosphere.

Here main protagonists are Gosos, the liturgical and devotional chants exclusively in Sardinian language yet originating from the hispanic Easter tradition as well.

Dates: Thursday, April 2, 2026 (Sos Sepurcros).

Local tips: Visiting the tombs, admiring the devotee's religious art and listening to the passionate singing of Sardinian chants, is a unique opportunity to enjoy a special experience and feel part of the community.

Useful info: Not far from Orosei there's the beautiful seaside town of Cala Gonone near Dorgali, a perfect place to enjoy the sunshine of the first warm spring days and perhaps take a walk overlooking the beach and the coastline.

Similar to the searches and the rite of Sos Sepurcros, another emotional moment of Holy Thursday that’s particularly heartfelt on the Easter holidays in Sardinia is the procession of Sas Chilcas, a particular Via Crucis in which many devotees and members of the brotherhoods actively participate.

Typical of the villages Cuglieri and Santu Lussurgiu in the province of Oristano, the custom of Sas Chilcas (indeed, searches) represents the symbolic wandering of the Virgin Mary, accompanied by the devotees, in search of her son dying following his painful torture.

The simulacrum of Mary is therefore carried in procession through the main streets of the villages, stopping in all the churches where the holy tombs have been set up.

Dates: Thursday, April 2, 2026 (Coena Domini and Sas Chilcas)

Local tips: The procession follows the solemn celebration of the Mass of Coena Domini in commemoration of the Last Supper, not to be missed if you're visiting these villages on Holy Thursday, one of the most relevant moments in Christian culture and Easter traditions.

Useful info: The area around Cuglieri and Santu Lussurgiu is rich in interesting attractions to include in a larger travel itinerary, such as the charming village of Bosa and some of the most famous and important nuraghe, among which nuraghe Losa stands out.

The evocative and surreal processions of Mysteries, known in Sardinia as Sos Misterios, are celebrations equally popular in other regions of southern and central Italy that over the centuries have come in touch with the Spanish cultural influence.

This Easter tradition is among the most heartfelt and important, especially in the town of Iglesias, a place where every year on Holy Tuesday parades the procession of Mysteries featuring as protagonists the so called Baballottis.

These ghostly and disturbing figures dressed in penitent clothes, completely white and with their faces covered by hoods (or Sa Visiera), lead the march through the streets of the town holding long candles like torches and carrying on their shoulders beautiful sacred wooden simulacra - in order, Prayer, Capture, Flagellation, Ecce Homo, Ascent to Calvary, Crucifixion and Sorrowful Virgin.

The procession of Iglesias is one of the most interesting and exciting moments to experience during Easter in Sardinia, a ritual where faith, ancient folk traditions and the amazing cultural mix of the island come together in an extraordinary storytelling that emphasizes on the beauty of cultivating the identity of one's own history and roots.

Dates: Tuesday, March 31, 2026 (Sos Misterios feat. Baballottis).

Local tips: Witnessing the procession of the Mysteries of Iglesias, with the exclusive presence of Baballottis, is one of the most magical experiences in Sardinia combining the solemnity of faith and the charm of folklore. We recommend following it from start to end to fully appreciate the passion Sardinians dedicate in celebrating Sardinia.

Useful info: Near Iglesias there are other fantastic destinations worth discovering and including in your Sardinia travel plan, such as the archaeological park Monte Sirai and the beautiful islands of Sant'Antioco and San Pietro.

Even cuisine certainly plays a fundamental role in Easter celebrations in Sardinia. Among the most popular delicacies, Su Coccoi cun s'ou stands out, a typical semolina bread of the island characterized by a particular thorny shape (perhaps related to the crown of Christ) with an egg in the middle, a symbol of rebirth and new beginnings.