The origins of the feast

During the summer of year 1600, arrived at Agullent an epidemic of bubonic plague, so called "sleepy", the evil which for several months had already infested the neighbouring populations. On August 7th, members of the jury of the city communicated to the mayor the suspicion that the plague had invaded the population so they took relevant measures, such as the quarantine of the parents who hosted sick members, the incineration of the contaminated clothes, … However, in the city of Agullent, the plague was not too virulent. The epidemic lasted hardly one month and caused only 83 deaths.