Early July in Tuscany is all about surviving the heat, dreaming about being on the beach or anywhere but the office. Things are very different in a picturesque town of the interior, where everyone's mind is focused completely on an ancient festival that is the only game in town. Despite being around for more than seven centuries, this is so much more than a horse race for the people, it's the only thing that matters. In order to figure out why they're so attached to this ancient tradition we need to get into the rich subtext that comes with it, a product of so many incredible things happening in that cramped square bursting at the seams with enthusiasm. This is why, in order to celebrate the Palio di Provenzano this Sunday, What's Up Tuscany brings you back to Siena to tell you everything there is to know about the seedy underbelly of the famous Palio. If you listen to the full episode, you will learn about the incredible lengths many jockeys of the Palio went to in order to either win the trophy or avoid their rivals from achieving this goal, something that for Senesi is almost as important as winning. We will go through several renowned jockeys that threw away their race to wait for their rival and pummel them with their whips, just to be extra-sure they didn't win. We will also talk about that time when the idea of having your rival winning the coveted "drappellone" pushed a fan so hard to make him pull the craziest stunt ever seen in the famous Piazza del Campo. In the last chapter, we will also tell you the tale of the famous jockey that, right when he had almost won, decided to just bail out, enraging the entire population for God only knows what reason. Follow us into this crazy rabbit hole and get a feel of why Senesi are so crazy for their little horse race. Trust me, it's going to be a crazy ride! Email: [email protected] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/larno.it Twitter: @arno_it / @WhatsupTuscany LINKS TO SOURCES (ITALIAN ONLY) https://www.oksiena.it/news/storia-del-palio-i-fantini-cattivi-130616190300.html https://www.ilpalio.org/sch1911.2.7.htm https://www.ilpalio.org/sch1901.2.7.htm BACKGROUND MUSIC Pipe Choir - Bom Bom Breakthrough (Instrumental) WUFO - Hyde Park Wayne John Bradley - Pick you up Profound Beats - Lo-fi EzaOne - Supernova Wayne John Bradley - Blues Rock Original Instrumental All released under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License https://soundcloud.com/pipe-choir-2/pipe-choir-bom-bom-breakthrough-creative-commons-instrumental https://soundcloud.com/argofox/wufo-hyde-park https://soundcloud.com/ayneohnradley/pick-you-up-slow-poprock-style-instrumental-creative-commons https://soundcloud.com/profoundbeats/profound-beats-lo-fi-free-download https://soundcloud.com/argofox/ezaone-supernova https://soundcloud.com/ayneohnradley/blues-rock-original-instrumentalcreative-commons http://www.pipechoir.com/