Local Festivals; Umbria and Tuscany - April to June, 2005

Calendemaggio in Assisi

We watched the opening ceremonies of this "West Side Story" festival - a competition between the upper and lower town "tribes" in Assisi. There's a back story of star-crossed lovers, a celebration of the fertile days of spring, flag-waving and a crossbow competition (rained out, sadly). This is not a tourist spectacle, it's a serious event for the locals we were invited to take part in.

Our first impression on entering the town was of banners hung from everyone's windows and many people wandering the streets in medieval costume. All generations were included, young and old alike. The opening parade felt like Mardi Gras, large numbers resplendent in period costume in all colors; the entire town closed down to join the celebrations. We saw medieval knights in full armor and crossbow troops preparing for the competition. The fair maiden of spring was there, too, and the festival combined ritual competition with a pagan celebration of the spring equinox.

Ceri Race in Gubbio

Gubbio's Ceri (candle) Race is a three-way competitive race through town and up the mountain, each 10-person team carrying an 800 pound wooden tower topped with the figure of a saint. Each of the three saints represents one of the town's clans; Saint Ubaldo for the upper class (now relabeled the mason bricklayers), Saint Giorgio for the traders/merchants and Saint Antonio for the farmers. The remembrance of this event is so important inside the region that the "Ceri" are nowadays the institutional symbol of Umbria.

One of the largest festivals in Umbria, 2005 saw even larger crowds because the date fell on a weekend. We parked on the outskirts and joined the people streaming through the town towards the main square, where the three teams were attending a blessing service inside the church. As they emerged and raised their saints on top of the "candles", the crowds went wild for their patron saints. The teams set off at a brisk pace for their first tour around the town. The passion and emotion of the people provoked a stampede, with mobs of locals charging off in the wake of their respective saints. Not expecting this (!) we were literally swept off our feet and carried by the crowd. It was a most terrifying experience. David smartly deflected us toward a parked ambulance, and an American-gone Italian tour guide reached out and hauled us to safety at the side of the street. We were lucky to meet her; she invited us to join her group for the day and we began with a party at a nearby ceramics shop. The owner brought out large jugs of wine to share with everyone in sight. We followed the group to a local hotel for a wine tasting and a chance to hear more about the race from an Italian-american who had returned to this birthplace of his parents to carry Saint Antonio's Ceri in the race. He explained that a large number of people immigrated from Gubbio to Jessup, Pennsylvania in the late 1880's to work in the mines. They brought the Ceri Race with them and today celebrate "Saint Ubaldo Day" in Jessup every year.

We went from there to a traditional Italian three-hour lunch, excellent, including a serenade from one of the street bands enlivening the festival. We enjoyed pouring wine in the saxophone and watching them hand it around.

Ilana found a safer spot for us to watch the afternoon procession of the three Ceri on their way to start the race up the mountain to the Basilica of Saint Ubaldo. We stood next to an old local woman who was literally moved to tears when her saint came into view; this is a serious business for the townspeople. Saint Ubaldo won, as dictated by tradition, but there was fierce competition for second place. We restored ourselves with a delicious dinner and set off for home.

Inferioriata in Spello

Sunday, May 29 was Corpus Domini, a Catholic religious celebration commemorating the first Eucharistic miracle, when the blood of Christ was made manifest (during communion, blood dripped off one of the communion wafers onto the cloth covering the alter). The cloth is kept in the Orvieto duomo and paraded thru the streets still to this day. In another small town, Spello, they celebrate the day by filling the streets with huge floral murals. Families, groups of friends and school children each design a mural and spend the night before filling out their sketched designs with flower petals, spices, leaves and branches from dozens of different species. Ground up fennel feathery greens make a gorgeous color, toasted sesame seeds are used for black, and thousands of carnations in every color are used.

We were moved by the camaraderie, energy and joyful spirit of everyone involved (even at 2:30 am). Hundreds of artists, thousands of spectators; the entire town was alive. We were recognized by an Italian man who remembered us from the first place we stayed in, and he invited us to join in with his group of friends; they had created a design, very Christian in symbolism, with a message of hope for the next generation. Ilana joined in and spent about an hour meticulously working on the mural. It was a moving experience.