Video: The Dragon District Throws a Big Pre-Palio Dinner Party

Two nights before Siena’s Palio horse race, the Dragon district gathers for dinner. I’m wearing the Dragon colors, in the backyard of the Church of San Domenic, enjoying a multigenerational party. Each banquet is beautifully situated in the heart of the district. Even if I don’t fully understand what’s happening, the excitement is contagious, and the wine is delightful.

With the horses and jockeys chosen, competing neighborhoods gather for big communal dinners that last well into the night. The excitement builds, and it’s a multigenerational affair — some people revving up for their 100th Palio (two per year for 50 years)…and others for their first. There are rousing choruses, with everyone cheering their contrada, and little ones soaking up the traditions — a scene that’s changed little over the centuries.

Looking out my hotel window, I was impressed at how the Panther contrada throws a big dinner party. With legions of volunteers, they set up, served, partied until late, and then cleaned the entire thing up in a flash. The next morning, you wouldn’t know there was a big dinner filling the square just last night.


This is Day 94 of my 100 Days in Europe series. As I research my guidebooks and make new TV shows, I’m reporting on my experiences and lessons learned in Vienna, the Alps, the Low Countries, England, Siena, and beyond. Find more right here on my travel blog.

Comments

2 Replies to “Video: The Dragon District Throws a Big Pre-Palio Dinner Party”

  1. Your comment about the whole community participating in these large celebrations with alcohol being consumed is so European & so wonderfully familial.
    Unlike in USA where public liquor consumption is frowned upon but anyone can show off their gun.
    Is it me? Or does that seem crazy.

  2. Sounds like it’s a blast! But you’d never get me south of the Alps in the summer.

    Hey, didn’t I read that someone else said that, too?! I wonder who that could’ve been.

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