Every year on 24 June, since 1750, Aci Trezza has hosted the folkloristic event “U pisci a mari” to celebrate St. John the Baptist, the town’s patron saint. It is a pantomime of the hard life of the fishermen and the eternal struggle for survival, worthy of the tales of Giovanni Verga and Ernest Hemingway. It all begins with the descent of the fishermen towards the sea and the lowering of the boats into the water.
From here a long and exhausting struggle begins between the fishermen and the fish that escapes under the guidance of the Rais, the head fisherman.
Rais is a name with roots in the period of Arabic rule, indicating the chief who gave orders, and is still used today by fishermen throughout Sicily.
