Every year, from June 8th to 13th,the inhabitants of Rotonda dedicate the Rito Arboreo (Tree Rite) to Saint Anthony of Padua, the patron saint of the Lucanian town. The Rocca and the Pitu — respectively a silver fir and a beech tree — together with the so-called porfiche, are carried in procession from the mountain to the town center, pulled by powerful oxen that, according to tradition, drag the trunks down the valley. A popular festival and a religious rite, a wish for prosperity for the new year and a moment of communion between the community and its saint,
the Rito Arboreo of Rotonda remains, through the centuries, a truly unique event of its kind.