Every year in September, the Luminaria di Santa Croce takes place in Lucca. It is a suggestive event during which the so-called "Volto Santo", a wooden crucifix housed in the Cathedral of San Martino, is carried in procession from the church of San Frediano to the Cathedral of San Martino. On this occasion, all streetlights in Lucca are turned off and the city is illuminated only with torches and candles.

All Lucca civil and religious authorities participate in the cortège, together with numerous crossbowmen and figurants in Medieval costumes.

The next day, the feast of the Holy Cross, a high mass is celebrated in the Cathedral of San Martino, where the Volto Santo is usually housed. According to legend, the Volto Santo was carved by Nicodemus from a cedar of Lebanon and arrived in Lucca in 782.

On the occasion of the feast of the Holy Cross, many markets and fairs are organized in Lucca, the most important being the cattle fair in San Quirico, the birds exhibition and the market of Lucca agricultural products in Piazza San Michele.