La Maja

At the beginning of may

The Maja is a traditional custom organised every year in the month of May in Malborghetto, Camporosso and Coccau (the word “Maja” derives from the German word  “Majbaum” - “The May Tree”) In some towns it is called “Frühlingsbaum” (“spring tree”). It is a propitiatory celebration for the forthcoming harvest. 
The so-called “coscritti”  (the teenagers who are 18 years old in that year) have the task of organising the whole event: to bring the tree into the town, joyfully surrounded by music and dances, to decorate the top of the tree with coloured paper flowers on the previous days and finally lift it up close to the main church of the town.
The feast ends when the tree has been definitely raised with a good deal of force and strength in a cheerful atmosphere of music, choir exhibitions and wine tasting.