Palio del Ponte District Games

The Palio del Ponte, the district festival of Acquarica

The Palio del Ponte District Games are one of the most cherished traditions of Acquarica del Capo, a village in the municipality of Presicce-Acquarica, in the heart of lower Salento in the province of Lecce. Every year, at the beginning of September, the town's various districts compete in a series of team games that transform the oratory into an arena of colors, flags, and festive cheering. At stake is the Palio: the trophy that the winning district proudly keeps until the following edition.

Where it takes place: the Don Tito oratory

The heart of the event is the Don Tito oratory pitches, a historic meeting point for the Acquarica community. Here, for several consecutive evenings, the district teams compete for the points that will determine the final standings, in front of a large audience of families, young people, and supporters of all ages.

The district competitions

The Palio del Ponte is a district-based team competition: each neighborhood fields its own representatives in events that combine skill, play, and team spirit. It is a friendly yet intense challenge, where the participation of the entire community counts and where the sense of belonging to one's district is passed down from generation to generation. The formula, repeated for over thirty years, has made the event a defining identity marker of the Acquarica summer calendar.

A prelude to the Madonna del Ponte

The Palio del Ponte is ideally linked to the festivities in honor of the Madonna del Ponte, a protector associated with the chapel dedicated to the Virgin and celebrated every year in mid-September with a procession, a fair, and performances. The district games thus open the season of patronal festivals in Acquarica, acting as a bridge between popular entertainment and the religious devotion that characterizes this part of Salento.

Presicce-Acquarica, one of the most beautiful villages in Italy

Born in 2019 from the merger of the municipalities of Presicce and Acquarica del Capo, Presicce-Acquarica is famous for its underground oil mills, the Ducal Palace, and a charming historic center, earning it a place among the most beautiful villages in Italy. Attending the Palio del Ponte therefore means immersing yourself in the authentic life of one of the most characteristic towns in the Capo di Leuca area.