Palio di Legnano

The Palio di Legnano (Italian pronunciation: [ˈpaːljo di leɲˈɲano]; known locally simply as Il Palio) is a folk event generally held the last Sunday of May in the City Of Legnano, Italy, to recall the Battle of Legnano held on May 29, 1176 by the Lombard League and the Holy Roman Empire of Frederick Barbarossa. This Palio is composed by a historical pageant and a horse race, until 2005 the whole event was named Sagra del Carroccio.

Legnano is subdivided in 8 contrade, each of one takes part both in the pageant and in the horse race held at the stadio Giovanni Mari. It's deemed as one of the most important non-competitive event of this type in Italy. In 2003 the historic pageant has been shown at the Columbus Day in New York City.

A lot of Palio-centric events take place in Legnano during May and July, as the choral exhibition La Fabbrica del Canto '(The factory of singing)' born in 1992 from an idea of the musical association Jubilate. In 2015, institutions made 29 May a holiday for the entire Lombardy.

The first Palio was officially organized in 1932. This event, called Festa del Carroccio, included a gastronomical exposition, a pageant and a horse race run at the local sports field Brusadelli, a race that was not concluded due to injuries to a jokey.

The Palio di Legnano, in its actual version, was first disputed on May 26, 1935. The following year the name was changed in Sagra del Carroccio due to a direct decision of Benito Mussolini, whom obbliged institutions to change the name in order to leave the word Palio as an exclusive for Siena.

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