For 350 Years, This Parade Has Been the Highlight of Cagliari

Last night we had a late dinner and while we sat at long tables, we learned a bit more about the festival and parade that we had seen in Cagliari earlier in the day. For 350 years this has been a very important event that takes place the first day of May.

Riccardo Strano, head of Italian Tourism North America, became quite animated when he spoke about how unique this festival was, throughout the Mediterreanean, and talked about the legends that drive the whole affair. It meant a lot to him that Americans wanted to know about the parade's origins and traditions.

"The procession, the horses, they all go out to Nora," he said. Nora is about 4 kilometers out of the city proper and is a site of ancient ruins by the sea. "They ride out there and then, on the way back home, the horses gallop as fast as they can. It's a spectacular sight!"

This parade features elaborate costumes and gold jewelry that is all owned by the families, kept in special places and authentic right down to their shoes. Each village wears its own unique style, a conical hat, or a swept back beret. Of the more than 350 villages in Sardinia, just 150 are selected each year to be a part of the parade, and have their oxcarts and horses march before the thousands of cheering local citizens.

One man is made the honorary mayor, (pictured) and gets to have his powers for just the day of the parade. He wears the ceremonial sash, and is an important fixture in the parade.

But the most important part of the parade is the wooden box that holds a figure of Christ, into which the archbishop places flowers in front of the dignataries in the stands. This is where the crush of film and video cameras created a vortex of papparazzi energy, everyone thrashing to get their lens into that perfect shot. All over the street rose petals blanketed the pavement, as the important carriage and the horses and the costumed locals made their way past us.