An Italian Festival

I love my country (Italy) because it’s so fascinating and has such a rich culture. There are lots of famous festivals there, but my favourite one is a horse race called ”Palio di Siena”. It takes place in “Piazza del Campo”, which is a round square in Siena, in Tuscany, and it’s held twice each year, on the 2nd of July and 16th of August.

During this race all the 17 “Contrade”, which are districts named as animals or symbols, challenge each other as a tradition. The winning one, celebrates its victory and receives a new flag of silk or velvet called “Palio”. Each “Contrada” is represented by one single racer who rides his horse.

The day before the race every district organises a big meal, so all the little streets between the houses are filled with some big tables surrounded by loads of chairs. If you walk along these streets, you can smell a nice smell of BBQs that are used to celebrate the start of the Festival.The atmosphere is really magical during these days: people keep on having fun, cheering their “Contrada”, eating and drinking a lot for weeks. Plus there are lights and lanterns everywhere. So romantic!

I suggest you to go to this exciting festival because it’s unique - you won't see it anywhere else in the world!