The roots of the festival are to pay tribute to the patron saint of Montepulciano, San Giovanni Decollato (John the Baptist).  The race dates back to 1372 when the city charter stated there should be a yearly festival to honor their patron saint and the local citizens.  It was originally a horse race through the center of town but this created a bit too many fights and chaos in the city so the race was canceled in the late 17^th century.  In 1974, however, a priest suggested bringing the race back to the city but pushing barrels instead of racing horses, and with that the race was back on.

The race is run for the privelege of to brandishing the Bravium, also called Il Panno, the official banner of the race.  Each year an artist is chosen to make the Bravium for that year’s race.

The city charter states the Bravium had to be made of scarlet cloth and be worth at least 30 “gold and equestrian florins”.  What that is worth today is difficult to guess but one member of the Royal Society of Economists claims that 1 Florin would buy 150 chickens, 1 pig, or 50 pounds of cheese, so a cloth worth 4500 chickens must have been very valuable indeed.

Since the race was begun, it has been among the 8 districts, or Contradas, of the city:

• Cagnano – Cagnano has won 10 editions of the bravio.  It’s shield has green and blue colors with a nursing dog as a coat of arms
• Collazzi – Collazzi’s colors are colors green and yellow and its coat of arms is an Orca and Rider.  Though they give it their best each year, Collazzi has never won an edition of the Bravio
• Coste – The Coste flag is yellow and blue with six oblique bands.  In recent years it has regained vitality thanks to the residents of the new district built near the Church of San Biagio, who have been affiliated with the district.  They have won eight editions of the Bravio
• Gracciano – Sporting green and black and a lion on a gold field, Gracciano has won 7 times.
• Poggiolo – The white and blue banner of Poggiolo is located on the slope of the city.  They have won 4 times.
• San Donato – Though one of the founding Contradas of the city, San Donato is now one of the smallest.  It bears the colors white and red with the episcopal sinsignia on the coat of arms, and has won 7 times.
• Talosa – One of the oldest of the Contradas, Talosa is in yello and red with three roses on their batter.  They have won 4 times.
• Voltaia – Voltaia is the most populous of the Contradas and uses the colors yellow and black with a hooked shield on their coat of arms.  They have won the Bravio 5 times.

Contradas have a very long history.  Indeed, the Contradas Collazzi, Coste, Cagnano, Voltaia, and Gracciano are considered the “new neighborhoods” because they were not created until the late 1200’s.   Each Contrada elects their own leaders that represent them through the year in various events, such as the Festival of San Giovanni where 10 men take a 15 pound candle to the Pieve di Santa Maria as an offering.

Though the race is what gets all of the attention, the festival actually lasts all week with feasts and other celebrations.

The day of the race begins with all 8 districts gathering in the Piazza Grande to participate in a random drawing to determine the order the various events during the day.  At noon the Holy Mass takes place in the Duomo where the Bishop gives his blessing to the districts, the pushers, and to the barrels. The barrels are examined and fire branded as “official” for the race, and the new Il Panno is revealed.

Starting about 3:30PM each district will have their own parade through the city streets according to the random drawing in the morning.  Each parade includes a small corp of drummers and guards, all in period customs and neighborhood colors, to accompany the district officials to the opening ceremonies.  Though the parades are small (about 15 people or so) If you stay on the main streets you should hear then see the parades as they go by.

Sometime between 6:30PM and 7:00PM the bell in the Duomo will strike marking the beginning of the race. The race is run by 2 “spingiere”, or pushers, that push an empty 80kg oak wine barrel up the hilly streets for about 1650 meters. According to the random drawing early in the day, the 8 districts line up in 2 rows of 4 barrels, four side by side in the front and the other four behind the front line.

The starting line is at the Marzocco Column, which is right by the Palazzo Avignonesi at the north end of town, and winds through town in a haphazard way before it reaches the finish line.  The roads narrow and widen along the course so the pushers must pick their opportunities for passing rivals as it is often not possible.

The finish line requires the pushers to navigate a sharp turn then ascend a ramp, so if 2 teams are neck-and-neck this is an exciting time.  Crashing barrels into opponents to drive them into walls does not seem to be against the rules so expect some fierce competition.

After the race there are some cheers but mostly tears.  This town takes the race seriously and you will see many disappointed faces.

The parades of the Contrades are quite fun to watch so arrive in time to see them.

The race route winds through town but it is easy to see where the route goes because the security will start setting up barriers a few hours before the start.  You are allowed to stand anywhere along the route as long as your feet are not on the main path of the event.  That means standing in a side road and peaking around a corner is allowed but standing in the road with your back against the wall is not.  Behind any kind of portable barrier is obviously allowed, but the good viewing spots will start to fill up about 60 minutes before the start so plan ahead.  A pro-tip is to have a late lunch in one of the restaurants along the route so you can sit at your table with a drink while the race goes by.  The Sax Wine Bar had a raised platform right on the race route.

The race itself goes by quite quickly if you are watching from the course.  You will only get about 3 or 4 minutes of excitement before all 8 teams go by.  Locals will watch until the pushers pass, then run uphill to the Piazza where the finish line is. The crowds there get deep quickly, though, since there are few open spaces for viewing that are not in the central square.

The finish line for the race is in the Piazza Grande in front of the Duomo.  The best viewing spot is in the middle of the Piazza in a set of chairs and bleachers where people can see the pushers as they enter the final sprint to cross the finish line.  These seats in the Piazza are the only paid portion of this event (2.50 Euro per person in 2022), but if you want tickets you need to plan ahead because the locals buy them up quite quickly once they go on sale.

To get there by car coming from the north, take A1 and exit at Valdichiana-Bettole.  If coming from Rome or other points south, take A1 and exit at Chiu8si-Chianciano.  There are road signs leading to Montepulciano from both directions.  From Rome the drive is about 2.5 hours, and there is a toll of about 10 Euro.

By train the city station is on the Empoli-Siena-Chiusi line.  The nearest airports are Perugia, Flornece, and Pisa.  There is also a bus line by Societa Trasporti Tiemme Spa.