The flags take to the field: today and tomorrow the climate in Piazza del Popolo becomes hot with the Flag Bearers and Musicians Tournament. This evening we start at 8.30pm to award four main titles: the Single, the Small team, the Large team and the Musician prize. Tomorrow we will continue with the Barrel competition, reserved for couples, after the oath of the knights. The best flag-wavers from each district will take to the stage in front of the FISB judges to establish the best in each specialty.
Single
Tonight’s individual challenge will be played on performances close to circus arts, so excellent are the juggling steps with the apparatus: the standard bearers manage to maneuver five or even six flags at the same time. The holder of the Single is the Yellow district with Luca Ghinassi, who however will not be present, replaced this year by Luca Giuseppe Corvino. To retain the title, the athlete from Porta Ponte will have to defend himself above all from Raffaele Rampino Jr (Red), former Italian champion, looking for his fifth success in Faenza, having won in 2016, 2017, 2021 and 2022. Also trying: Marco Tarroni (Borgo Durbecco); Francesco Santandrea (Black) and Filippo Rossi (Green). The Singles discipline has been contested since 1971: Borgo Durbecco boasts 28 titles (the last in 2019 with Riccardo Lotti); the Red 13 (the last in 2022; the Black 9 (the last in 2015); the Yellow 2 (the last in 2023) and the Green 1 way back in 1973.
Small team
A highly spectacular event is the Small team: the districts will field six standard bearers, surrounded by musicians in a smaller lineup than the Big team, but effective from a choreographic point of view. The reigning champions are those from the Yellow district, who are aiming for poker, after victories in the last three years (6 in total). The challenge began in 1972 and according to statistics the most successful is Borgo with 21 successes (the last in 2010). Black has 14 victories (the last in 2019), Green with 5 (the last in 2016), as well as Red (the last in 2012).
Great team and musicians
The Great Team specialty involves exercises performed by 8 to 16 standard bearers for each district, accompanied by the respective musical groups (up to twenty elements) who will be awarded a separate prize. Black is the defending champion, who will have to contend above all with the flag-wavers of Borgo Durbecco: since 1985, when Green achieved a memorable trio, the specialty has become an exclusive of two districts. The Red also had two victories, the year of its debut, 1972, and the following.
If you look at the Musici (in force since 1986), the private issue between Borgo and Nero is even more accentuated: no district has ever broken their hegemony.
The prizes of the flag tournaments have their weight: if you don’t win a tournament they are a very respectable consolation. The flag-wavers from Faenza are among the best in Italy, but the disagreements with the Federation, only recently resolved, have made them slip into the third series, so much so that in order to compete in the Tenzone aurea, some have moved to Ferrara (Yellow athletes). However, the Manfreda school remains one of the best and climbing back up to the top should only be a matter of a few years.
