Siena’s Palio – The Traditional Horse Races 2027

Siena’s Palio – The Traditional Horse Races

The Palio di Siena is Italy’s most celebrated medieval horse race: ten bareback riders, each carrying the colors of one of the city’s seventeen contrade (neighborhood wards), thunder three laps around the sloping, shell-shaped Piazza del Campo in Siena, Tuscany, in roughly ninety seconds. The summer race honoring the Madonna of Provenzano has been run since the mid-1600s, and the rivalry between the wards still shapes daily life in the old town.

Two Palios are held every summer, one in early July and one in mid-August for the Feast of the Assumption. The piazza is packed with tens of thousands of spectators, while the rest of Siena’s medieval streets fill with drums, flags and neighborhood choirs.

Palio Highlights:

• La Tratta and the Trials (Prove): Horses are drawn by lot and assigned to the ten competing contrade a few days before the race, followed by six trial runs, morning and evening, that you can watch from the edge of the Campo.
• Corteo Storico: A parade of more than 500 participants in Renaissance costume, with flag-throwers (alfieri), drummers, knights and floats, marches into the Campo before the race.
• The Race and the Drappellone: The winning contrada takes home the drappellone, a hand-painted silk banner created by a different artist each year, and the race can be won by a riderless horse.
• Contrada Life: The blessing of the horse in the ward’s own church, communal dinners in the streets and the victory celebrations that run for days afterward show Siena’s neighborhood culture at its most passionate.

Tips for Visitors & Trip Planning:

• Tickets & Free Entry: The center of the Campo is free to enter but fills hours before the race, with no shade and very limited toilets. Reserved seats on the stands (palchi) or at apartment windows around the piazza are sold privately by stand owners and sell out months ahead.
• Best Viewing & Trial Runs: The trial runs are the easiest way to feel the atmosphere with far smaller crowds, and the historical procession can be watched from the tracks’ edge.
• Getting There: Siena is reached by regional train from Florence with a change, or by direct express bus. The historic center is a restricted traffic zone, so leave the car in one of the parking areas outside the walls and walk in.
• What to Wear: Summer afternoons are hot, so bring a hat, sunscreen and water, and wear comfortable shoes for standing for hours on cobblestones. Avoid wearing a contrada’s scarf unless it’s your own.
• Accommodation: Beds in Siena and nearby Tuscan towns vanish months before each race, so booking well in advance is strongly recommended.
• Explore Siena: Pair the Palio with the Duomo’s striped marble and inlaid floors, the Torre del Mangia and day trips into Chianti wine country — browse top Siena tours and activities here.

The City of Siena’s official Palio website publishes the full calendar of trials, the draw of the contrade and the order of the historical procession. See details below, under “Event Related Information” section.