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Sagre, feste, markets and cultural happenings across Chieti, Pescara, Teramo and L’Aquila, gathered in one place.

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Chieti’s Palio de Lu Ricchiappe: A Race Four Centuries in the Making

11 May @ 16:00 - 19:00 CEST

The Palio de Lu Ricchiappe kicks off from 4 pm in Piazzale Sant’Anna. Mixed pairs, one man and one woman, sprint through the historic centre representing their rione. New finish this year, Piazza San Giustino, right in front of the patron saint’s church.

The race is older than it looks. From the 1600s to 1931, riderless Barbary horses ran these same streets for the feast of San Giustino. People waited at the old fish market with a large cloth to catch them at the finish, the ricchiappe, the catching point. The saying still survives in Chieti dialect: “Lu cavalle bbone se vede a lu ricchiappe.” A good horse shows itself at the catching point. Don’t judge anything before it’s over.

The horses are gone. The race was lost for almost ninety years. The cultural group ScopriTeate brought it back in 2019, this time on foot, between the neighbourhoods. Sixth edition tonight. San Martino joins for the first time, taking the count to eighteen.

If you can get to Chieti, find a porchetta stand, pick a rione, and lose your voice cheering for somewhere you’ve never heard of.

This year’s trophy is a painting by Arianna Leardi. It will be presented by the three officials leading the event: Governatore Fausto Napoli, Mater Assunta Menna, and Pater Cesidio Di Masso.

Grab a spot along the route, find a porchetta stand, and choose a neighbourhood to support. By sunset, you’ll probably be hoarse, a little sunburned, and rooting for a place you didn’t even know about this morning.

View the 2025 Race

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