Held uninterruptedly since 1652, it follows a vow made by the Sardinian people to the saint to free Sardinia from a devastating plague epidemic.

The procession sees the statue carried inside a sumptuous Baroque coach, on an ox-drawn cart. The traditional carts, called 'traccas' in the Sardinian language, are richly decorated with festoons and display multi-coloured fabrics, embroideries and flowers on the yokes and even the oxen’s horns.  Worshippers wear the traditional dress of their village, while the journey is enhanced by the melodies of the launeddas.

Villa San Pietro is a traditional stop for the procession both on the outward journey to Nora, on the morning of 2^nd May, when the statue makes a brief stop in the village at the 'Casa Fadda' for the celebration of holy mass, and on the return journey to Cagliari on 4^th May.

The stop at the historic house called 'Casa Atzori' on the return leg is especially significant because the mansion welcomed and protected the statue of the saint on its journey to Nora in 1943, during the bombing of the city of Cagliari by Anglo-American planes. Now, when the statue stops at Villa Atzori, it is cloaked with a precious cape donated by the family.