Italian Culture Customs and Traditions

One of Italian culture traditions is the passion for rievocazioni storiche or historical reenacting.

In our eventful past is easy to find some historical fact that deserves a commemoration with a festival, a fair or some special event.

It seems that the slightest provocation from our past (and we don’t lack good excuses) excites our enthusiasm for period clothing, costume dressing and historical research.

Il Palio della Quintana di Ascoli is and excellent example of this Italian passion for the commemoration of our history.

Ascoli is an little known gem, one of the most beautiful cities in Italy. The Ascolani are rightly proud of their town and their historical legacy, they like to show it with the Giostra della Quintana, a spectacular medieval festival.

La Quintana receives an enthusiastic participation and the citizens of Ascoli work year long to prepare the settings and their awesome medieval costumes.

The event takes place the first Sunday of August with the festivities of the patron saint of the city, Sant’Emidio.

On the second Saturday of July has been added an other edition of the Quintana to satisfy the demand of the aficionados.

One of the highlights of the celebrations is the jousting contest. Six knights, one from every sestriere (borough) of the town, engage in this competition: they must hit a tiny target held by a dummy called il moro while horse riding at a breakneck speed.

The prize for the winner, called il palio, is a drape created each year by a different artist and is jealously guarded by the winning party.

Each year this competition receives recognition with a nationally broadcasted show.

The people of Ascoli join this medieval fair with enthusiasm, this year one thousand fifty people where dressed in medieval costumes for the historical parade and the support of the crowd to the jousting knights was incredible.

The making of the medieval costumes for the parade is an industry in itself, it employs tailors year round for the the fashioning and the embroidering of the clothing that are inspired by ancient paintings.

Another important part of this medieval festival is the contest of the sbandieratori or flag jugglers. This activity is one of the Italian culture customs and it has reached the status of national sport. Flag juggling requires constant training and a good dose of ability. It is practiced in many historic towns throughout Italy. The contests are often held during local festivals and the performances are spectacular.

Here are some pictures from the Quintana. We hope you enjoy this slideshow as much as we enjoyed Ascoli and its festival.

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