57th Palio di San Rocco Pellegrino

A mid-August festival that tells the story of San Miniato

In the heart of Tuscany, perched between Florence and Pisa along the Via Francigena, San Miniato celebrates one of its most cherished traditions every year: the Palio di San Rocco Pellegrino. The event enlivens the Scioa district during the middle of August, transforming Piazza Buonaparte—christened Piazza Teatro dello Scioa for the occasion—into the stage for a lighthearted challenge between the three city districts. This is not a horse race like in Siena, but a popular Palio made of games, tests of skill and wit, costumes, and a great spirit of togetherness.

The three competing districts

The competitive heart of the festival lies in the 'terzieri', the three historic sections into which the community is ideally divided:

• Poggighisi (to the east), which includes the Poggighisi, Pancole, and Sant'Andrea neighborhoods;
• Castelvecchio (in the center), the oldest part of the city, with the Pieve and Santo Stefano neighborhoods;
• Forisporta (to the west), which unites Forisporta and Faognana.

The three teams compete for the Palio through treasure hunts, traditional games such as the famous silver spoon, and challenges designed for both children and adults, all in an atmosphere of healthy rivalry and joy.

From the origins of the sixties to the Festival del Pensiero Popolare

The Palio di San Rocco was born in the sixties in the Scioa district as a laboratory of ideas where tradition, entertainment, faith, art, and culture merge in the name of San Rocco Pellegrino. After a long hiatus between the nineties and the early two-thousands, the festival was reborn thanks to the Tra i Binari association, which intertwined it with the Festival del Pensiero Popolare: a series of concerts, shows, installations, exhibitions, and workshops aimed at all ages, capable of giving the local village festival a broader cultural dimension.

Atmosphere and flavors of Tuscany

The evenings of the Palio are marked by dinners in the square organized by local merchants and entertainment for the whole family. San Miniato, known throughout Italy for its white truffle and its medieval village dominated by the Fortress of Frederick II, provides the ideal setting for a festival that is simultaneously a community re-enactment, a local fair, and a moment of gathering. The Palio di San Rocco Pellegrino thus represents one of the most authentic events of the summer in the province of Pisa and throughout Tuscany.