The Palio delle Contrade in Gambassi Terme

The Palio delle Contrade of Gambassi Terme is young: a teenager among the many other long-established summer folk events. Moreover, despite the name alludes to that all-Tuscan passion for the Middle Ages, the Gambassi’s palio was born at the beginning of the third millennium, pulling itself out of the historical controversy around what should be considered the oldest palio in Italy. Who designed it, sixteen years ago, had an idea in mind: to give Gambassi the chance to strenghten its community’s social bonds, to be together by playing games, to get to know each other, no matter your age. Dario Ciappi has been a contrada captain for over ten years and he does not hesitate to describe the palio as an inter-generational glue: you come here in the square – he says – and the pensioner talks to the teenager, the twenty-year-old discusses with those who are twice his age. Nothing more than an everyday scene in a small town, one could say but, sure, but the palio has been a great exercise of cohabitation and mediation.

Designing a palio out of scratch is not a trivial matter. Serena Negrini is a witness of its developments since the first edition and she has contributed to writing the rules. Let’s start, for example, from the contrade: they do not correspond to old settlements or districts: Membrino, Belvedere, i’Porcello and la Pieve were born on paper, by drawing a cross on the map of the town. Who participates? Only residents of Gambassi, male and female. For those who decide to change contrada, there is no way back … The games? … there are no horses, no velvet costumes, no trials by combat. In Gambassi, the competitions speak of its rural traditions: wood splitting, log sawing or pressing grapes are among the contests. Beside that, the four quarters of the town challenge each other to a breath-taking race that involve running while rolling a barrel uphill. Not to mention the tricky gara della bigoncia, a race where runners literally wear a wooden bin. 

Over and above the races,  the not to be missed are the parade floats … inventiveness and artistry at stake!

While you’re reading, the four teams are training and those who do not participate into the races, help building the parade floats, sewing clothes and setting up the Sunday show. In the past years the parade have become more and more sophisticated: imagine an ephemeral procession that brings together carnival traditions, Buontalenti-like scenographies, theater, dance, musicals and pop culture. The theme around which the floats are designed is always the wine; to judge their originality and beauty there is a very secret jury. This year Gambassi is waiting for quite knowledgeable jurors (!!!), a group of builders of the floats of the Viareggio Carnival …