Palio del Velluto

The 2025 Palio del Velluto

The 2025 edition brought to Leonessa, in the province of Rieti, the usual weekend at the end of June dedicated to the Renaissance. Preparation had begun on May 24 with the Choice of the Banner ceremony and on June 21 with the Drummers' Joust, a musical prologue to the challenge between the Sesti.

From June 27 to 29, the historic center hosted costumed pageants, taverns with 16th-century inspired cuisine, shows, and the three competitions that award the palio: the Pallagrossa, the characteristic Bread Race — with competitors engaged in an obstacle course while holding a one-kilo loaf — and the Velvet Joust on horseback.

The program did not end in June: on July 12, the City Foundation Festival was celebrated, with a night ceremony dedicated to Charles I of Anjou, while between August 4 and 16, the Children's Palio, the junior version of the event, took place. As the organizers like to repeat, «the costume is from the past, but the emotion is entirely current».