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# 68 • SEPTEMBER 21 , 2015
Every year on the third Sunday of September the “Palio (contest) di Asti” is run:
the oldest in Italy, it is an ancient tradition from the eight century, a real festival,
which has kept unchanged its distinctive
traits, qualities that have helped to make
it a unique performance.
The charm of the medieval history lives
through the town districts and its places,
including churches, towers and palaces, untouched witnesses of when Asti
was shining, for its richness and vitality,
among the most important cities of Italy
and Europe.
The Palio, a large velvet cloth with the
insignia of Asti and the depiction of the
patron saint San Secondo, is the dream
and the award to which twenty-one contenders aspire.
The feast day begins with the blessing of
horses and jockeys, and with a fascinating display of the flag-wavers, followed
in the afternoon by the magnificent historical procession consisting of over
1200 characters who in their precious
costumes, authentic jewels of artisan tailoring, recall facts and historical events
that actually happened in Asti during the
WE THE ITALIANS | 31
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