Palio di Siena
(Also known as festival palio di siena festival, il cencio, il palio, siena palio, il cencio di siena, festivals siena, festival tuscany, sienapalio, il cencio palio, il cenciopalio, palio cencia, festival of siena, siena festivals)
A city of 17 quarters each with it’s own colour. Sworn enemies. All secret friends with a price to sabotage or succeed in a bareback horse race around the town’s main square. 50,000 spectators, 2 minutes of racing months of gambling and a lifetime of politics. Each quarter celebrates in a different way but all welcome outsiders in case they bring luck ! Fatalities have frequented at this ultimate horse race.
When Twice a year 2nd July & 16th August at 4.30pm Where A sand covered Piazza Del Campo in Siena, Tuscany in Italy. Where to stay I stayed in the Siena Hostel a few kms outside Siena, 
Why On the 2nd July for the holiday of Madonna of Provenzano and is called Palio di Provenzano or Palio delle Madonna. The second Palio is called Palio dell'Assunta or Palio delle contrade and celebrates the holiday of holiday of Virgin Mary and is called Palio dell'Assunta or as most of the people name it - Palio delle contrade. Who Sadly this will be only a spectator sport for most. Only locals partake. Palio di Siena Competitors from the 17 quarters (17 contrade in Italian) of the city take part bearing their areas colours. These Siena’s 17 contrade were armies created in the Middle Ages to defend the city after they took their independence from Florence. Today Sienas Contrades are residential areas. Contrade members are encouraged not to marry out of their own Contrade. Build up to the race The evening before each race an estimated 25,000 people eat outside in their local neighbourhood. This is the practice for their victory celebrations. Tables seating 50 people line each contrada. Visitors welcome and gossip common place.
The morning of the race, each horse is brought inside the Contrada Church to be blessed by Madonna. All the pews are removed from the church and real estate in inside is at a premium. Incense fills the air and latin chants are all to be heard above the clip clop of horse hooves. “Vai e torna vincitore” (go and return victorious) the priest says, next horse please! After this traditional ceremony Siena erupts. Local battle cries and songs filling the air. 50,000 people rush to the benches by the sides called Pallazzi. These seats have to be reserved.The medieval atmosphere combined with the ancient beautiful buildings will make you transport you back in time. No Italian rally is complete without Il Duce. There are 17 here. No not 17 Mussolini’s each contrada has a leader, which acts like a mascot bearing the flag of his contrada. There are many parades at Palio di Siena and each contrada does it’s best to revel any neutrals in the crowd and win their support. Then 2 white bulls pull a chariot andbring in the cencio (local name for the palio)
The winner Palio di Siena race must complete 3 laps of Piazza Del Campo first. All 10 horses line up behind the canape (rope) rope and await the start at the gates. There is a lot of noise and apparently this is where deals are made to take out rival riders. Many Contradas have alliances. Some date back hundreds of years, others are made seconds before the race. This depends greatly on the quality of rider and horse. Experienced Palio di Siena riders can keep their horses restless, delay the race starting and hence buy themselves time to make last second deals. The captain has the important role of weighing up the options and deciding if his contrada should look to win the Palio Di Siena. Or should they settle for preventing their enemy winning the Palio. The Giraffe and Tower contradas have abig budget of up to €300,000 and can bribe teams of less resources (the caterpillars) to sabotage an enemy. Lip readers are high in demand among the rich contradas and greatly influence the gambling odds before and during the race.
The mossiere (starting official) lowers his arm drops the rope. The competitors go full speed into every turn. This is Siena’s Palio.
Riders fly into the air and horses roam free. A horse can win the race with or without his rider. The crowd engulfed in chaos mid-prayer and without faith all at once. The riders are falling off their horse or trying to make their neighbour fall off his at 30 mph !
Death is no stranger to this competition. The winner of the competition receives il Palio. This is a piece of clothe, really more of a symbol then a prize. Winners also receive adoration from local friends and women. Each race lasts under 2 minutes. However the politics of each race circulate until the next race. What to wear The colour of the contrade you support, they are : Tortoise, Wave, She-Wolf, Goose, Shell, Porcupine, Dragon, Owl, Snail, Panther, Eagle, Caterpillar, Unicorn, Ram, Giraffe, Forest and Tower. Who to support Il Bruco, the caterpillars. Eternal underdogs, large in number, short in resources.
Where to Eat Try to wing your way into one of the 17 quarters Dangers/annoyances If you don’t get into the stands then watch out for stray horses rushing into the crowd or falling jockeys. Also crushing in the crowds can occur during the Palio. Beware of over-enthusiastic Tuscans 
Airports Florence & Pisa are the closest. Getting there There is a bus from Florence 1 hour away or a bus from Rome Internet Try Bogart Pub really near Piazza Del Campo. It’s half night club Bank/ATM Look for a bank and you will find one. Weather Beautiful weather as always in Tuscany. Festival Pig Fact An estimated €1 million total is spent each year www.paradoxplace.com has good info on Siena and it's history.
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