Held annually on May 1st in the small town of Cocullo, festival-goers cram into the crowded streets to honour San Domenico di Sora, a Benedictine monk who removed snakes from farmers’ fields in the 11th century. Beginning at noon and lasting around 1 hour and 30 minutes, a wooden statue of San Domenico is adorned with a mass of live snakes— which are defanged and handled by professionals— and paraded through the tiny medieval town. It is considered a good omen if the snakes wrap around the statue’s head and bad luck if they fall.
Following the procession, the snakes are released back into the forest. The purpose of the festival has supernatural and cultural roots: by honouring San Domenico, the townsfolk are protected from snake bites and misfortune throughout the year.
My goal was to design a bilingual branding strategy through both digital and print formats. The final outputs include a poster, desktop landing page, digital tickets, and a brochure.