Asti, Italy Summary

In the run-up to its annual Palio, ASTI throws off its sedate air and hosts street banquets and a medieval market. On the day of the race itself, the third Sunday in September, there’s a thousand-strong procession of citizens dressed as their fourteenth-century ancestors, before the frenetic bare-backed horse race around the arena of the Campo del Palio – followed by the awarding of the palio (banner) to the winner and all-night feasting and boozing.