Pandemic Diaries - Italian Interlude 8 October 2022 - Sbandieratori!

8 October 2022 – Giostra dell’Arme San Gemini

 

In the evening, after our day in Orvieto, we went back to San Gemini for the festivities.  This night featured the sbandieratori, the flag twirlers.  (The word bandiera means flag, so people twirling the flags are sbandieratori.)  Followed by parades of people in Medieval costume!

The entire festival is called the Giostra dell’Arme San Gemini.  I’m not sure of the best translation (since I’m currently without Wi-Fi), but giostra refers to the jousting that is one of the culminating events of this Medieval festival.  (Remember, this isn’t jousting to unseat one’s opponent – rather, this is jousting to get the lance through a ring, rather like an old-fashioned carousel ride.)

 

The dell’Arme portion definitely means “of arms,” presumably weapons.  So, the Joust of Arms.  Pretty straightforward name for this festival, however warlike it might seem.

 

We (my second class group) were dropped off by the Roman gate, at the vaguely northwest side of San Gemini.  There were crowds and hordes of people, but we walked by and headed to the Piazza San Francesco in the center of town. 

 

The piazza itself was ringed with barricades, keeping the center free from the milling crowd.  One friend and I walked up to the little park overlooking the piazza, and stood behind two people in folding chairs, who were right by the railing.  Our theory was that since we both are not tall, at least we could see over the people sitting in chairs!  (They later stood up and moved closer together, folding their chairs and giving us space right at the railing!  Wow, front row space!  We thanked them profusely in our limited Italian.)

Things got started about 9 PM, with various speeches or descriptions of what would be happening.  It was all in Italian, of course, and beyond my comprehension level.  But that just makes it all more interesting, when one has no idea what to expect.

The drumming started, first a fair sound in the distance, then louder and louder as the drummers approached.  They were all wearing matching Medieval costumes, blue and red so I knew they were from Rione Rocca, the tower or castle neighborhood.

 

Suddenly the sbandieratori appeared, running into the piazza, each in a different costume and each with a huge flag color-coordinated with their outfit.  They were so speedy, they ended up just blurs of color on my camera! 

 

After a few laps around the piazza, the performance began – for nearly an hour, small groups of sbandieratori went to the center of the piazza and wow!  Twirling barely begins to describe what these men can do with these huge flags!!!

 

There was throwing the flags into the air and catching them.  Tossing flags to the person opposite them and catching the flag thrown at them.  Six men standing in a circle and tossing flags across all at once, but throwing those flags at different heights so they don’t collide.  One man somehow twirling and juggling multiple flags at once – and having more flags tossed at him, which he somehow balanced on his foot and gave a little kick to get the flag airborne, so he could then catch it in his hand and continue his twirling and juggling routine!!!!  (He must be an outstanding soccer player with those mad foot skills!)

 

One younger man even stood on the shoulders of another guy, waving and twirling the flags all around!  I can’t imagine balancing on someone’s shoulders, and then waving around six-foot flags?  No way!  I have literally never seen anything like this performance, not even at Il Palio in Siena, the famous horse race preceded by a parade including flag twirling and throwing.  The Sienese seemed like amateurs compared to the sbandieratori of San Gemini!!! 

 

Some of the flag twirling almost seemed like capoeira, the semi-martial arts dance of Brazil – two men would face each other and wave their flags in orchestrated movements around the other’s head, almost in a taunting or daring way.  Like they were challenging each other to a duel with flags.  Or a duel of flags!  As if they were saying “just move an inch and I’ll smack you with this flag!”  I would think it would be quite intimidating to face an opponent who is waving a huge flag just an inch or two from your face!!!  Rather like the Māori Hakka or something!  I don’t know if this is part of the “Giostra dell’Arme” concept, as if possibly they are “jousting” with flags.  But there definitely was a warlike intimidation factor going on here!

 

I also don’t know if there’s a name for a group of flags in the air at the same time – but rather than calling it a flock of flags, it really was much more like a chaos of flags!

 

I later learned that the sbandieratori of San Gemini have won first place in national competitions several times, and I can believe it.  They really gave an amazing performance!

 

At the end, each man was introduced, everyone cheered, and they ran back out of the piazza in a whirl of colors.

 

Then the parades began – I’m not clear on all of it, but there were at least three separate parades, each with their own drum corps and people in the parade.  According to the brochure I picked up in town, the grand parade shows figures representative of the city and the original Saint Yemen, or Jemini, for whom the town is named.  My Italian is limited, but some of the figures include major religious figures like the Abbot of San Nicolo, noble families, and then average workers or people from Medieval San Gemini.  And some of the sbandieratori, possibly those who live in that rione.  Though for all we know, all of the sbandieratori could come out with each rione.

 

There was a man who I swear had a wolf on a leash walking beside him!  A woman carrying a lamb, a man with a chicken, a few people with hawks or falcons (the birds wearing hoods, since this was night as well as in a large crowd).  Definitely people dressed as religious figures, with monks, nuns, and religious leaders.  Several people on horses, a few small wagons or wheelbarrows. 

 

There were also men in armor, complete with helmets and swords.  Women in long flowing velvet gowns, obviously nobility or at least aristocrats.  On and on they went, each parade marching to the rhythm of their own drum corps, circling the piazza, and then marching on down the main street.

 

The Rocca parade started behind the little park we were in, went down the street in front of us, then on down the side street and into the park.  We had a fabulous view of it all!!!  But it was getting closer and closer to the time we needed to go meet the bus, so I kept an eye on the clock.  I knew our little park was between the main piazza and a dead-end street, with that little side street being our only route back to the main road leading back to our meeting spot.

 

The other two parades had been short, maybe about 15 minutes going by before they ended and walked on down the street.  Rocca’s parade when on and on and ON!  Finally, with about ten minutes before our meeting time, we just didn’t have a choice.  We snuck out of the park at the back gate, then walked down the upper part of the side street.  I asked a man, in Italian, if it was okay for us to walk down the street, that we had to meet our bus.  He gave me a shrug and hand gesture, as if to say well, it isn’t good, but do you have a choice?  Well, no, we didn’t!  So we stepped into the street and walked with the parade!  We kept to the side, and hurried along, but yes, we basically were out there front and center with the parade!

 

Oh well, such things happen.  We were second-to-last back to the bus, so it was a good thing we walked the parade.

 

We left at about 11 PM, thrilled to having experienced this truly incredible festival!

 

Unfortunately, we had other plans for Sunday, which was the big day of the jousting.  According to the schedule, there also was another costumed event, then the joust, a concert, and my favorite, the “spettacolo pirotecnico” – a fireworks spectacle, or spectacular fireworks, or something along that line!  After the flag event, I can only imagine how amazing the fireworks would be!!!!

 

I should add that the next day, I tried my hand at painting an image of the sbandieratori.  I managed to capture some of the energy of the whirling twirling flags, with the people standing stationary as the flags swirled around into a blur of color.  It was fun to paint, even if the final version doesn’t quite match the image in my head.

 

But WOW, what an event!!!!!

 

TONS of photos to follow!  (These are the best - still a bit blurry with so much action in so many directions!)