The complicated ceremony begins with the robing of the saint's statue in his church in Stampace by the Archconfraternity of Gonfalone. Hundreds of traditionally costumed participants arrive from all over Sardinia to take part in the procession, which begins at the church and ends after traversing Via Roma. The groups travel on foot or in gaily decorated ox carts. They are accompanied by uniformed soldiers on horseback, launeddas (traditional reed instrument) players, and members of the confraternity that dressed the statue. The statue of the martyred saint, in his gilded carriage, is pulled by a team of festively bedecked oxen. He is preceded by the "AlterNos" the city's honorary representative on horseback, accompanied in pomp and ceremony by his uniformed (mazzieri) honor guard. The dignitary carries the "toson d'oro" a large medallion given to the city in 1679 by the king of Spain.

The procession breaks up in Viale Pula near the granary and the journey towards Nora begins. It stops at Giorgino, where the statue is changed into clothes more appropriate for the countryside, then proceeds to the Maddalena beach, Su Loi, Villa d'Orri, and Sarroch. The next day, after a brief pause at Villa S.Pietro, the image reaches the sites of the saint's martyrdom, finally stopping at the small shrine on the beach that still maintains its early medieval character. The torrara, the saint's return to Stampace, takes place on May 4. The smaller procession concludes in a solemn mass.

 A further description and a movie of The Sagre of S.Efisio