Who is running the Palio di Provenzano (dedicated to the Virgin of Provenzano) on 2 July 2024? By right:
• Valdimontone 🐏 • Pantera 🐆 • Bruco 🐛 • Leocorno 🦄 • Lupa 🐺 • Civetta 🦉 • Oca 🪿 • Giraffa 🦒• Nicchio 🐚 • Onda 🐬 •
Listen for the chiarine (the clarions) - when they play, the remaining 3 Contrade will be drawn by lot in the Piazza del Campo!* Who will fortune favour?
*How does it work? The names of the eligible Contrade will be placed in an urn, and the Mayor of Siena will choose 3 Contrade (all 17 are eligible) at random. The captains of these Contrade will then each choose one Contrada from another urn (where all but the 7 listed above are placed), and the flags will displayed one by one outside the trifore (triple lancet windows) of the Palazzo Pubblico to complete the lineup of 10 for the 2 July 2024 Palio. The Mayor will then choose (at random) the remaining 7 Contrade, and their flags will be displayed on the upper windows of the Palazzo Pubblico, determining their order in the Historical Procession. The process continues: these last 7 Contrade will therefore run by right in July 2025, and the remaining 3 Contrade will be chosen by lot the last Sunday in May 2025 (unless shenanigans occur and sanctions are issued, in which case, I’ll update you!)
If you’d like to witness the event, I’d recommend having an early aperitivo in the Campo. Grab a table and order a spritz, then enjoy watching all of the Contrade enter the Piazza. At 7:00 sharp the clarions will play and you will feel the anticipation in the air as the window opens and the first flag is revealed!
Update: Leocorno drew Giraffa; Tartuca drew Nicchio; Valdimontone drew Onda.
The order of the remaining 7 Contrade was: Aquila 🦅, Tartuca 🐢, Chiocciola 🐌, Drago 🐉, Selva, Torre 🐘, Istrice 🦔. Neither Aquila nor Torre were able to reduce their disqualifications (they were each disqualified from 2 Palii due to questionable behaviour in the August 2023 Palio).
