Even though the Sagra del Tordo ( Festival of the Thrush) is only 54 years old, it is similar to hunting festivals that were held much earlier in the town of Montalcino. In the middle ages hunters and falconers would hunt in the woods, bring back their prey and celebrate with banquets for the whole town. No doubt the archery competitions were held to help hone the skills of the archers.
The first day of the festival begins early on Saturday morning when young dancers in costumes from the 1800s perform in the main square.
dancing opens the festivities
A procession follows and the very important job of selecting the archers takes place. The names of 3 archers from each of the 4 quartiere are placed in a barrel and 2 are drawn out. These 2 will represent their areas in the competition.
the barrel is brought in
the town crier arrives
the ballot begins
the tension mounts
everyone waits
love the shoes
this one seems to have his own smurf
The names of the archers are announced and the bands play.
the horns play
Later in the day everyone gathers in the square for the parade to the tournament ground.
everyone joins in
the parade heads to the tournament grounds
a handsome knight
one of the archers
children join in as well
Fortunately the weather is perfect and the tournament ground looks wonderful.
the beautiful grounds under the fortezza
The arrows are checked and weighed.
getting ready
The targets are set.
the targets
Then the first round begins. Each archer has five arrows and there is a limited time in which to shoot them.
the arrows fly
the arrows hit their target
the score is given
This is repeated 4 times each time at a greater distance from the target.
the archers move further away from the target
Who won? Pianello won, but this is just the first round, the big one is the next day. Pianello just happens to be the team my friends support and we attended to dinner for the quartiere on Saturday night. As you can imagine, everyone was very happy and excited and looking forward to the big day. Stay tuned.