We are here once again, as we are every year: the Feast of the Madonna delle Grazie in Guazzino has officially begun. To us, it is simply the ‘Festa delle Rocche’, a tribute to the wool spindles once brought by young betrothed couples to be blessed, a rural tradition with roots reaching back through the centuries.
There is the solemnity of the church, the candlelight procession on Thursday night, and the grand parade on Sunday. And then there is the Palio, born only yesterday just for the sake of celebration, yet already a part of our soul. It is a festival great in its simplicity, rich in its humble origins, and universal in that visceral, unbreakable bond it creates with our village.