Palio di Siena 16 August 2024: the program of the day, the times

Palio di Siena 16 August 2024: the program of the day, the times

What is today’s program for the Palio di Siena on August 16, 2024? Everything will start at 7:45 am and culminate after 7:00 pm with the actual race. The live TV broadcast on La7 is scheduled to start at 4:45 pm. Below is the program in detail:

• at 7.45am Mass of the Jockey, officiated by Cardinal and Archbishop Augusto Paolo Lojudice at the external chapel of Palazzo Pubblico
• at 9 am the horses leave the Cortile del Podestà for the Provaccia
• at 4.45 pm parade of the Carabinieri on horseback
• at 4.50 pm entrance of the Historical Parade in Piazza del Campo
• at 7pm the horses will leave the Cortile del Podestà for the Palio (the last access from via Duprè will be closed at 5.45pm).

Once the Procession is over, a bang from a firecracker announces the exit of the horses from the Entrone. Each jockey is given an oxwhip with which he can encourage his horse and/or hinder his opponents during the race. Then the pairs approach the point of the mossa where the two ropes have been stretched between which they will be called by the mossiere, who this time will also be Renato Bircolotti, to line up. The entry order is established by chance.

Regulation

We have seen the program of the Palio di Siena of August 16, 2024, but what are the rules? The start is with a chasing horse (the tenth) that, positioned outside the starting line, decides when to enter and start the race: sometimes this happens in a few minutes, but it can also last hours depending on the situation between rival contradas. Usually the chasing jockey decides to start the Palio when the horses of one or more rival contradas are poorly positioned, or when that of an allied contrada is in a favorable position. Once started, the horses – with or without a jockey – will have to do three laps of the square in a clockwise direction. In the race, ten of the seventeen contradas into which the city of Siena is divided take turns competing, so that no one manages to skip two in a row (except for disqualifications). Below are the 17 contradas of Siena:

EAGLE
CATERPILLAR
SNAIL
OWL
DRAGON
GIRAFFE
PORCUPINE
LEOCORN
WOLF
NICHE
GOOSE
WAVE
PANTHER
FOREST
TURTLE
TOWER
VALDIMONTONE

The contrade, as we know them today, have existed since 1729 but their origins date back to the year 1000, when small associations were born in Siena that offered services to pilgrims heading to Rome along the Via Francigena. The long history of the contrade is also made up of rivalries and violence that for centuries have found an outlet in the Palio.