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Sardinian horseback ride

Sardinian horseback ride

Sardinian horseback ride

Sardinian horseback ride
On

the penultimate Sunday of May, the city of Sassari is the scene of one of the most important folk festivals in Sardinia. The event is a precious opportunity to admire the magnificent colors of the traditional clothes and jewels of the villages of almost the entire island.
On the penultimate Sunday of May, the city of Sassari is the scene of one of the most important folk festivals in Sardinia. The event is a precious opportunity to admire, on a journey that winds through the streets of the historic center, the magnificent colors of the clothes and traditional jewels of the villages of almost the entire island. It is a different, profane ceremony, where religion is not the protagonist, but precisely the costumes, the songs, the sounds, the dances and especially the knights with their spectacular acrobatics.

The Cavalcata, now in its seventeenth edition in 2006, in its current version commemorates the famous parade organized on April 20, 1899 in honor of Umberto I of Savoy and his wife Margherita, who arrived in the capital of Capo di Sopra for the inauguration of the monument to Vittorio Emanuele II. In his 'History of Sassari', however, Enrico Costa recalls that already in 1711, in the last years of Spanish domination, the City Council decided on a 'ride' in honor of King Philip V, in which all the Sassari nobility, proud to show off their customs and traditions, participated. Only since the 1950s, in reality, has the event taken on a mainly tourist character, becoming one of the most important events of folklore in Sardinia, together with Sant'Efisio in Cagliari and the Redentore in Nuoro.

The event opens with the morning parade, in which groups from all over Sardinia participate, with thousands of people in traditional dress who proceed on foot, on traccas (the characteristic floats decorated with flowers and everyday objects) or on horseback on an itinerary that crosses the entire city, from the suburbs to Piazza d'Italia. In the afternoon, visitors can, instead, witness the acrobatics of the knights who embark on an unrestrained race in daring pairs, according to a custom now rooted in the centuries with which Sardinian men demonstrate their dexterity and strength. Finally, in the evening, the groups, who participated in the procession, meet in Piazza d'Italia to perform to the tune of launeddas and accordions in typical Sardinian dances.

A day of celebration, in which the identity of the Sardinian people is materialized in an infinite palette of colors, timeless sounds and daring acrobatics. A familiar and fascinating atmosphere that surprises every year and makes the customs and traditions of this magical land immortal

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Update

26/9/2023 - 00:29

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