From Friday, June 23 to Sunday, June 25 the event. Training is intensifying in the contrade ahead of the challenges that will be contested in the capital and at the Municipal Stadium.
The countdown has begun for the “CΓ Stellare. The Castelfiorentino Palio,” which will take place next weekend, from Friday, June 23 to Sunday, June 25. Within the individual contrade, training is intensifying in preparation for the challenges that will be played in the streets and main squares of the capital city and at the Stadio Comunale “Riccardo Neri,” at the end of which the winning contrada will be decreed.
As in past editions, the various contrade (which, we remind you, are eight: “Membrino,” “Borgo,” “Puppino,” “Praticelli,” “Ferruzzino,” “Dogana,” “Cambiano,” and “Santa Verdiana – Bastione”) will have to compete in a series of games and performances where flair, imagination, strength and skill are required. And it is only by putting together the scores obtained through each individual challenge that the “Cencio” of the Palio will be awarded to the contrada that has taken first place in the overall ranking: a prize with symbolic and identity value, a source of pride and satisfaction for those who passionately follow the event both in the long preparations in the months leading up to and during the days of the event.
Kicking off on Friday evening in Kennedy Square when all the contrade will gather at 9 p.m. for the traditional parade through the streets of the center, at the end of which the pairings in the individual challenges, the starts and the “wild card game” assigned to each contrada (which, we remind you, allows the latter to obtain double the score reported in that challenge) will be drawn.
On Saturday, June 24 (from 4. 00) the “Children’s Palio” will be held in Gramsci Square, who will compete for the “Cencetto” by challenging each other in four games: “Wring Sponge,” where participants will have to try their hand between a full and an empty basin of water and, with a small rag, strive to “soak up” as much water as possible from the former and wring it out on the latter, “aim and throw” (one child with a basket on his head, the other throws balls from a distance of three meters, the one who throws the most into the basket wins), the traditional “relay race” and “ballerina ruzzola,” a baby version of the game played by adults.
This will be followed in the evening (Kennedy Square) by the theatrical performance by all the contrade, which in five minutes will have to collectively interpret the theme chosen for this 2023 edition, namely “The Universe.”
On Sunday, June 25, meet early in the morning (9 a.m.) at the Municipal Stadium “Riccardo Neri” to continue the Palio with two games, in which technique, strength and skill will take the lion’s share. Waiting for the teams will, of course, be the supporters of the various contrade, who will not fail to cheer on their favorites so that everyone can give their best. The first challenge will be the “Relay Race” followed by a test of muscles with the “Tug of War”; in the afternoon, at 5 p.m., the Palio will move to the capital and the games will resume in Kennedy Square with “Poison Ball” followed by “Ruzzola Balla.” At the end, around dinner time (8 p.m.) the proclamation of the winning contrada.
“The Palio of Castelfiorentino,” stresses the mayor, Alessio Falorni, “has always been a festival that manages to virtuously combine play, fun, team spirit, and the bond of identity among the people who live in the various areas of the capital or in the hamlets. Often, it also represents an opportunity to forge new bonds of friendship and perhaps get to know people close to us. This is why I am happy that this event, of which I was the first chairman, has continued its journey over the years and still continues to be an event experienced by the whole community. Therefore, I would like to thank the organizing committee, the heads of the individual contrade, and all the participants and supporters who have worked hard to ensure that this festival takes place again this year. This is the last Palio that I will attend as Mayor of Castelfiorentino, and I will not hide from you that I will experience the final evening with a tinge of emotion.”