As I walked up the hill on Sunday morning for the main event of the Sagra del Tordo I came across the procession heading towards Piazza Popolo to greet the Lady of the Fortress.
the start of the parade
It seems the whole town was on the move.
the dancers were back
there were children bearing gifts
a handsome couple
boys in red
drummers
and horns
an important looking gentleman
people carrying picks and a banner
All these people were heading towards the Lady of the Fortress and her entourage.
the Lady of the Fortress
the town crier arrived on his horse and the Lordship arrived to excort his Lady
the Lady and Lordship
Then everybody moved off towards the church for the archers to be blessed.
those crossbows look dangerous
the gifts go too
more fierce weapons
at the church
all done
Then everybody was off the the fortress for the next part of the ceremony.
up the hill to the fortress
Like the day before, the sun was shining and it as a beautiful day. Huge crowds gathered in the grounds of the fortress,and the next stage of the event was played out.
the town crier made his announcements
to the crowds and the court below
the horns played from above
and the other horns
the hunting dogs were there
and hunters with their nets
while the members of the court looked on
it proved to be a bit tiring for some
Once the speeches were made and essential things said and done, the court moved off.
The Lord and Lady move off and the rest follow.
Lunch was next. Just outside the fortress grounds the food stands were set up. Each quartiere offered its own specialities.
Everything looked delicious, including these roasting chickens.
Of course we had lunch in the Pianello area.
We ate delicious gnocchi, polenta with cingiale, porchetta and the most delicious sausages. It was worth coming for the food alone. Then it was time for a rest before the main archery competition. We elected to miss the procession to the sports ground in order to get a good seat in the stand.
Eventually the parade filed in and the competition got underway.
The court takes its place.
Supporters stand by.
The band begins to play.
All eyes are on the archers and the competition begins.
Arrows are retrieved, the shots discussed at length and it starts again.
Finally the last arrows are sent towards the targets.
And Pianello has won the competition. This has only happened a couple of times in the last 20 years, so the supporters are very pleased. The victorious captain receives the silver arrow in the name of his quartiere.
The crowd goes wild and the players hug each other and people swarm onto the field.
Then everyone heads back into the Piazza Popolo for more celebrations.
The happy archers go off to get ready for the evening celebrations.
Celebrations go long into the night. The winning team earns the right to sing hymns of victory and to ridicule the losers. This can go on for the entire year, until the next competition.
Overnight all the flags from the losing areas will be removed and only the flags of the winning quartiere are allowed to remain on display.
We felt very privileged to be part of the Sagra del Tordo. It was fun to be on the side of the winning team, even though we had nothing to do with the win. I’ll have to go back next year to cheer for Pianello.
What we loved most of all about this festival was that the whole town was involved. Babies were dressed in quartiere colours, toddlers were dancing and playing drums, young children were involved happily in the event and everyone just had a great time. Nobody was unruly or bad spirited. There should be more of this.