The feast begins with a legend. According to local tradition, the Madonna appeared in a dream to a sacristan in Tramonti and told him to repair the church, or she would leave for a place that welcomed her. When the priest did nothing, a storm and floodwaters carried the sacred image down the valley to Pagani. In the sixteenth century, hens scratching in a courtyard are said to have brought the image back to light, giving the celebration its name.

The feast is celebrated in Pagani, in the province of Salerno, during the Easter octave. Since the 18th century, and especially after the canonical coronation of the statue of the Madonna delle Galline in 1787, it has become one of the town’s major religious and popular celebrations. Processions, music, decorated courtyards, and devotional gatherings fill the town, while the tammorra (a traditional frame drum) accompanies the festivities and the tammurriata (a traditional folk song and dance accompanied by the drum) remains one of their most distinctive features.

The feast draws participants from across the province and beyond. It is among the most characteristic popular Marian celebrations in Campania, and hens retain a symbolic role in the tradition as votive offerings linked to the founding legend.