The Palio dei Terzieri at Città della Pieve

We went to the Palio dei Terzieri historic parade at Città della Pieve again today. Last year it was spectacular so we couldn't miss it this year. The three rione compete for the coveted flag with the main event being an archery competition held after the parade. The festival actually goes for ten days and today was the finale.

Once again the parade (which took two hours to pass by) was a diverse mix of beautiful costumes, animals, music, crafts, warfare and village life in the past. The parade concludes with a huge flour fight which we avoided this year. You will see one photo where a flour bomb has just been shot into the crowd!

As I took over two hundred photos last year and I only have the compact camera working this year, I planned to take just a few photos for the blog. A few turned into 104 so here are a selection from another wonderful day of free entertainment.