"A century-old horse palio in one of the Val d'Elsa's smallest walled hilltop villages, where local riders race for their districts in a compact medieval piazza setting."
Palio di Casole d'Elsa
"Now in its tenth year, this beloved evening fun-run circumnavigates the entire tiny Isola Superiore dei Pescatori on Lake Maggiore, with a children's mini-lap and a community atmosphere unique to one of Italy's most picturesque lake islands."
Gira in gir par l'isula pescadur
"Nine contrade race hand-built timber rafts three kilometres down the Brenta rapids in a spectacular revival of the old zattieri trade routes from the mountains to Venice."
Palio delle Zattere
"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
"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
"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."
Palio dei Ciuchi
"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
"Vintage cyclists ride the white gravel strade bianche of the Chianti hills on pre-1987 bicycles in this nostalgic race that ends with a proper wine festival in Gaiole, blending sporting heritage with the flavours of the harvest season."
L'Eroica
"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