8 neighborhoods plus 4 villages: 12 boats at the Palio of Sant Joan
The Italian Naval League section of Alghero “Gruppo Vela Latina”, the Circolo Nautico Il Marinaio and the Petraia Neighborhood Committee with the collaboration of the eight neighborhoods of Alghero, the four villages and the natural shopping centers of the historic centre, of Sant’Agostino, of the Pietraia and Fertilia have organized the first Palio Vela Latina “San Juan” which will take place in conjunction with the celebrations of San Giovanni on 22 and 23 June 2024.
Today, Saturday 25 May, the first and evocative event of this special event will be held: the official presentation of the boats to the Neighborhoods and Villages and the awarding of the recognition banners. Appointment at 6.30pm at the lido – Playa Natural where the 12 boats assigned to the neighborhoods and villages will be positioned in front of the venue, a few meters from the beach. At 7.00 pm, the banners will be handed over to the crews of the boats in a ceremony in the presence of the Alghero costumes of the Folklore group of the Porta d’Oro association. This will be followed by a buffet accompanied by wines from the Santa Maria La Palma winery and live music by DJ Emidio Salvio.
“It’s a dream come true – explains Gavino Carta, president of the Pietraia Neighborhood Committee, which together with the Naval League and the Il Marinaio nautical club organized the event – lhe idea was born years ago, before COVID, we wanted to organize a palio in Alghero that involved all the neighborhoods of the city and all the villages and we finally succeeded. The lateen sail is historically linked to the city of Alghero, the photos of the old port bear witness to this, it was the boat used by fishermen and today this history also has its place within the Italian Sailing Federation. This is why we combine the historic boats of Alghero and the neighborhoods of Alghero.”
Through a draw, the boats were combined with the neighborhoods, just as is done in the poles and each neighborhood was also matched with a color to create recognizable banners.
The organization of the palio began already in March when a competition was published for the creation of a distinctive logo for the event. Various proposals were presented and a jury made up of teachers from the Faculty of Architecture and the Academy of Fine Arts decided what will be the official logo of the event. The winner was a student from the F. Costantino artistic high school in Alghero: Raffaella Malafronte, awarded on 23 April, in the same high school in the presence of the authorities.
The Palio di San Joan regatta will take place on June 22nd, the day before the fireworks, starting from the port with a route that will involve the entire harbor of Alghero. The following day, June 23rd, on the occasion of the fireworks for Sant Joan, there will be an award ceremony with the return of the banners to the neighborhoods as a bond in view of next year.
