OMAGGIO DI PRIMAVERA

The roots of the Omaggio di Primavera (Spring Tribute) trace back to very old times, when the people of Volterra celebrated the spring equinox through a pagan rite, trimming the whole city with spring flower garlands that underlined the Nature awakening after the long Winter pause. This tradition has been passed through the medieval times too: in occasion of the “Majo di primavera” (Spring May) people used to gather early morning in the main square and wake up the Priori family by offering them flowers and shows to celebrate the beginning of springtime; of course the flag-wavers couldn’t miss the event with their performances in the Piazza (main square) and all over the city streets; every year on the Easter Monday, the historic group Sbandieratori (flag-wavers), through the Omaggio di Primavera , offers the numerous tourists visiting Volterra the recollection of this old pagan rite, with a tone of folklore and joy. The event takes place in the morning; at 11.15 a.m the historic parade, made of around 50 medieval-dressed figurants, starts moving from Porta a Selci toward the Piazza dei Priori through the historic centre, where the flags joust begins; various choreographies are performed together with the flag-wavers exhibition, some of which go back to historic events occurred in the medieval and renaissance Volterra.