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The
Palio dei Micci (donkey race) was first held in 1956 through the
initiative of a citizens committee and soon became the most important
historical-folklore event in the Province of Lucca. Eight city-districts
participate. In the beginning it was held in March during the St. Joseph
festivities; nowadays it takes place on the first Sunday in May. By
nature it plays an authoritative part in the historical traditions of
Tuscany. More than two thousand costumed figures take to the city
streets on Palioday dressed in splendid costumes as princes and queens,
warriors and chancellors knights, scholars, jesters and peasants, to
animate the most beautiful spring festivity, a fairy-tale day.
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Such
massive participation, greater than in any other event in Italy, not
only confirms the Versilieses' spirituality, their insatiable need to
vent their imaginations, but also offers the spectators striking
impressive theatrical aspects.
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The
elegance of the costumes, the picturesque ancient ceremony, the allure
of colours, banners, youthfulness and music constitute an absolutely
unique, inimitable tableau. The rivalry among the districts comes to its
culmination in the Palio: the donkey race. The district factions, who
have Tuscan blood
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in
their veins and therefore love competition, participate in this moment
with intensity and emotion that infects even the most disenchanted
spectators.
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The Coast