The Palio delle Botti di Manciano
The last weekend of August, for some years now, has been taking place in the small village of Manciano, in Maremma, the Palio delle Botti< /strong>.
There are six participating districts: Borgo, Cassero, Fonti, Monumento, Imposto and Mulinello.
Every year the Palio delle Botti begins on Friday, with the presentation of the teams and the Barrels, carefully decorated and subsequently awarded, of each district.
Each team must push their barrel full of water for a total of 100 kg in weight along the streets of the centre.
The first to start the Palio are the women’s teams, which compete for the Trofeo Rosa; to win the Palio, the girls, six per district, must complete a lap in the shortest possible time.
The two fastest teams will face each other in the final, where the first to arrive will win the prize.
The men’s Palio, on the other hand, takes place Sunday; it begins with a procession through the whole village (together with the women’s teams), up to Piazza Garibaldi.
There, two teams are successively drawn, which will start the first in the first round, consisting of three races. In each competition, two districts face each other at a time, the winners of each competition, plus a reprieve, will face each other in the semi-final; where the two districts that will compete for the ‘painted Palio‘ finally come out.
The Palio delle Botti is enjoying more and more success year after year and is becoming a tradition for Manciano and its inhabitants.
During all the races, the streets are full of colour, music, refreshment points, citizens and tourists.
The celebrations, once the Palio is over, are not only for the winning district, but for everyone with lots of music, sandwiches and joy in the streets of the village!