This short film documents the activities at the Palio Festival, an annual event held in Siena, Italy during the two summer months. The Palio's activities are centered on the city's main square, the Piazza del Campo. There are many competitions between the city's "contrade", or wards, each contrada which has its own colorful flag. These competitions are borne out of a deep sense of patriotism within each contrada. Arguably, the highlight of the Palio are the proverbial "no holds barred" bareback horse races, which take place on the makeshift quarter mile track built in the Piazza. Trial races are held before the final race to determine which contrada will reign supreme for the year. Another unofficial competition, one that is more a want to outperform the other, is between the flag throwers representing each contrada, they who parade from their respective contrada to the Piazza just prior to the race.
—Huggo