Palio dei Ciuchi
Campagnatico's spirited donkey race pits the village's contrade against each other in a parade of historical costume followed by the Palio dei Ciuchi contest, a cheerful and very local counterpoint to the grand Sienese racing tradition.
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"In the small Sienese hill-town of Sarteano, five contrade mount their knights on Ferragosto to joust against a rotating Saracen effigy in a contest rooted in medieval chivalric tradition, preceded the evening before by the provaccia trial run."
Giostra del Saracino
"For one week every August, Volterra's alabaster-walled medieval centre transforms into a living 14th-century town with period costumes, medieval money, crafts demonstrations and food stands inside one of Tuscany's most atmospheric hilltop cities."
Volterra AD 1398
"For five days each August the Lunigiana market-town of Pontremoli bans cars from its medieval centre and fills the streets with merchants, knights, and clergy re-enacting life under Frederick II's 1226 charter, culminating in the Palio contested between the rival borghi."
Medievalis - Palio di Pontremoli
"Held across twelve evenings in the hilltop wine village of Montecarlo, this long-running festival fills the medieval centre with stands of local Montecarlo DOC wines, artisanal pasta, and art exhibitions in the historic palaces."
Festa del Vino di Montecarlo
"Eight contrade of Montepulciano race 80 kg wine barrels 1,800 metres uphill along the main street to Piazza Grande, with a costumed procession before and a street banquet after."
Bravìo delle Botti
"A beloved September village fair in the thermal-spring town of Rapolano Terme in the Siena hills, mixing local produce, crafts and community festivity in a compact medieval centre."
Fiera del Settembre Rapolanese
"Perched at 1,077 metres in the Madonie mountains, the tiny village of Geraci Siculo revives a medieval jousting tournament in honour of the Ventimiglia lords, its 14th-century overlords, with horsemen competing in the ruins of their ancestral castle."
Giostra dei Ventimiglia
"Mounted knights from across Europe gather at the foot of Castel Coira in the Val Venosta for three days of jousting, lance-breaking and horsemanship contests set against an Alpine medieval backdrop."
Giochi Medievali di Venosta
"Organised by the Parco Nazionale Appennino Tosco-Emiliano, this unique two-day world championship sends hundreds of foragers into the beech forests of Cerreto Laghi to compete on porcino harvest weight, litter collection, and mycological knowledge."
Campionato Mondiale del Fungo
"Deep in the Madonie mountains this medieval hilltop borgo hosts a collaborative allegorical float parade drawing carts from five surrounding villages, crowned by a masked equestrian parade organised by the Cavalieri Contea di Geraci association."
Carnevale di Geraci Siculo - Sfilata Equestre in Maschera
"One of Sardinia's most breathtaking ancestral rituals: around a hundred bareback riders thunder down a steep hillside to the sanctuary of San Costantino, re-enacting the Battle of Milvian Bridge amid gunfire, dust and devotion."
S'Ardia de Santu Antinu
"A 40-year-old patronal games day in the Cinque Terre village of Vernazza, in which the traditional quartieri compete in seafront folk contests and games tied to the feast of Santa Margherita."
Giochi di Santa Margherita