The Black Ward was awarded the Couple’s race with them flag-wavers Francesco Santandrea and Enrico Emilianitriumphant for the fourth non-consecutive time in Piazza del Popolo in the traditional competition that closes the June events of the Niballo before the apotheosis that occurs in the knightly joust of the Palio on the fourth Sunday of this month.
At the end of the performances of the pairs of flag-wavers from the five districts, the Porta Ravegnana district toasted until late into the night in the Via della Croce headquarters with 50 liters of sweet Albana wine from the barrel, a prize for the winners of the one which in Faenza it is considered the most prestigious competition. The competition between senior flag-wavers in couples is in fact called “of the barrel”, because the winning district is given a small wooden barrel containing around fifty liters of wine, as well as a silver “tabletop” reproduction of the Civic Tower. The performances of the couples are accompanied by a drummer whose performance is judged for the subsequent awards ceremony.
Here Red wonfor the second consecutive year with Luca Linguerriwhile his district won the combined ranking of the scores of the Senior Couples and the scores of the Under 21 Couples. The absolute combined ranking which combines the scores in the Singles, Couples, Small Team, Large Team and Musicians specialties it was won by Rione Nero.
The evening of Sunday 16 June in Piazza del Popolo, which once again featured the porticoes of Palazzo Manfredi and Palazzo del Podestà packed with spectators, mostly from the local area, opened shortly after 9pm with the entry of the small local processions and than that of the Municipal Group.
At 9.30 pm the oath of loyalty to the respective districts of the knights who will compete in the Palio del Niballo next Sunday 23 June at 7.30 pm took place at the jousting field set up on the lawn of the “Bruno Neri” municipal stadium: Marco Diafaldi (Rione Verde), champion in charge has announced that he will compete on Magia dei Sapori, Luca Innocenzi (Borgo Durbecco) on Mister Armando, Matteo Rivola (Rione Rosso) with Coltre di Neve, Matteo Tabanelli (Rione Nero) on Lethal Gray and Gertian Cela (Rione Yellow) riding All Our Dream: nothing new, in short, compared to what the free and official practices highlighted. At 9.42pm a medal was given to Diafaldi in memory of his success at the 2023 Palio, then finally at 9.56pm the competition between the pairs of flag-wavers accompanied by their respective drummers began.
THE RACE
Compared to 2023, it was Sunday 1 October, the date found after the May floods, the protagonists were almost all the same: the Rione Giallo replaced the Coppia flag-wavers Luca Ghinassi and Davide Lionetti (who moved to a district of Ferrara) with Kevin Liverani and Federico Locatelli, who doubled like their predecessors, also winning the Under 21 race being very young; the Rione Verde has replaced the drummer Michela Pantera with Alessia Cornacchia. Thus the ranking of the opinions of the special jury on the five drummers was identical to that of last year.
The first to perform, following the draw carried out by Field Master Nicola Solaroli, was the Borgo Durbecco couple formed by Marco Tarroni and Marco Pasi, from whom it was expected to expect something different from the half-disaster shown to the FISB jury, with various uncertainties, a flag lying on the ground and a double “plumb”, i.e. with the poles of two flags in perfect vertical position which hit the ground and returned to the hands of the same standard bearer.
Even from the brothers Filippo and Massimiliano Rossi of Rione Verde, victorious in 2016 and performing second, more was expected than the performance put in with diligence, but tainted by uncertainties and the fall of two flags to the ground.
With the close-knit couple from Rione Rosso formed by the new Singles champion Raffaele Rampino junior and Francesco Palomba, the show began to be seen, but it was spoiled by the “hanging out” of a flag and the uncertainty of the second.
The Couple from the Rione Nero who appeared fourth offered all those certainties that their previous opponents lacked to varying degrees: perfect exercise at the right speed and, if you nitpick, two almost imperceptible uncertainties. The young couple from the Rione Giallo, who closed the race, did not repeat the victorious performance of Sunday 2 June when they wore the Under 21 clothes, but they showed that from 2025 they will be in full competition to win the battle and that at Porta Montanara there is a flag-waving school that works well.
Once the performances of the five couples were concluded, as on Saturday evening, we had to wait very little to get all the jury’s responses: in particular, the delivery of the barrel which is carried by two figures from the Municipal Group to the winning district according to a consolidated ritual, he made the right laps of the square, neither too many nor too few to the delight of the Porta Ravegnana neighbourhoods.
NATIONAL PERSPECTIVES
The bearers of the “Niballo-Palio di Faenza” at the “Tenzone Bronzea”, the Italian Championship of Flag-wavers and Musicians of the third national division, as winners in Faenza, will be the singles player Raffaele Rampino junior with the drummer Luca Linguerri (Rione Rosso), the Couple formed by Francesco Santandrea and Enrico Emiliani with the drummer Mattia Ricci (Rione Nero), the Piccola Squadra and its Musicians (Borgo Durbecco), the Grande Squadra and its Musicians (Borgo Durbecco).
The Championship will take place on Sunday 7 July 2024; The splendid Piazza Garibaldi (formerly Piazza Maggiore), in the historic center of Sulmona in the province of L’Aquila, will be the stage for the “Tenzone Bronzea”, with the organization of the “Borgo San Panfilo” Musicians and Flag-wavers Group under the aegis of the ” Italian Flag-Waving Federation”, the association of districts and bodies which in 2023 had first wanted to exclude, for alleged formal “peccats”, the founding City of Faenza from its staff and from the Italian first national division Championship, the “Tenzone Aurea” which Faenza himself masterfully organized it in 2019, only to “relegate” it to the third division in 2024.
In case of bad weather, in the morning, the “Tenzone Bronzea” races will be held at the Sulmona Sports Hall in Viale XXV Aprile 1; in case of bad weather, in the afternoon, the races will take place at the Palazzetto dello Sport in Via Amedeo Natale 1 in Popoli, in the province of Pescara.
The objective of the Flag Throwers and Musicians of the Niballo-Palio of Faenza is to win the “Tenzone Bronzea”, also in consideration of the high level they have achieved, to arrive in 2025 at the “Tenzone Argentea”, the Italian second national division championship. It should be kept in mind that the Single and Couple winners of the “Tenzone Bronzea” will have, without involving the entire group to which they belong, the opportunity to participate in the 23rd “Tenzone Argentea” 2024, scheduled in Ascoli Piceno from Friday 19th to Sunday 21 July. Similarly, the Single and Couple winners at the 23rd “Tenzone Argentea” will have, without involving the group they belong to, the opportunity to participate in the “Tenzone Aurea” 2024, taking place from Friday 6 to Sunday 8 September, again in Ascoli Piceno to celebrate the seventy-year anniversary of the Quintana of the city of the Hundred Towers.
It seems clear what the dream that emerges from the drawer of Rampino and the Santandrea-Emiliani duo could be: to make the double leap upwards and aim for the major national titles in Singles and Couples.
THE RANKINGS
Senior Couples (with drummer)
1st Rione Nero (Francesco Santandrea and Enrico Emiliani) 26.76
2nd Rione Rosso (Raffaele Rampino jr. and Francesco Palomba) 22.60
3rd Rione Verde (Filippo Rossi and Massimiliano Rossi) 10.22pm
4th Rione Giallo (Kevin Liverani and Federico Locatelli) 17.65
5th Borgo Durbecco (Marco Tarroni and Marco Pasi) 15.04
Competition between the Drummers of the Senior Couples
1st Red Ward: Luca Linguerri 86.20
2nd Borgo Durbecco: Marco Liverani 77.70
3rd Black Ward: Mattia Ricci 76.40
4th Yellow District: Lorenzo Ghiselli 66.20
5th Rione Verde: Alessia Cornacchia 63.50
Summary of the results of the matches played on the evening of Saturday 15 June 2024
at the Flag Bearers and Musicians Tournament
Single (with tambourine)
1st Rione Rosso: Raffaele Rampino junior (Luca Linguerri) 26.22
2nd Black Ward: Francesco Santandrea (Mattia Ricci) 25.45
3rd Rione Verde: Filippo Rossi (Michela Pantera) 11.27pm
4th Borgo Durbecco: Marco Tarroni (Matteo Bossa) 20.91
5th Rione Giallo: Luca Giuseppe Corvino (Lorenzo Ghiselli) 7.11pm
Small Team (with Musicians)
1st Borgo Durbecco 25.66
2nd Ward Yellow 24.51
3rd Rione Green 24.18
4th Black Ward 24.10
5th Red Ward 8.48pm
Big Team (with Musicians)
1st Borgo Durbecco 28.53
2nd Black Ward 27.89
3rd Ward Green 27,27
4th Yellow Ward 26.33
5th Red Ward 8.18pm
Musicians of the Big Team
1st Black Ward 25.79
2nd Borgo Durbecco 9.42pm
3rd Ward Green 20.81
4th Yellow Ward 4.23pm
5th Red Ward 10.55
Combined ranking of the Big Team and the Big Team Musicians
1st Borgo Durbecco 1st + 2nd = 3
2nd Black Ward 2nd + 1st = 3
3rd Ward Green 3rd + 3rd = 6
4th Ward Yellow 4th + 4th = 8
5th Ward Red 5th + 5th = 10
Combined ranking for Great Team and Great Team Musicians scores
1st Black Ward 25.79 + 27.89 = 53.68
2nd Borgo Durbecco 21.42 + 28.53 = 49.95
3rd Rione Green 20.81 + 27.27 = 48.08
4th Yellow Ward 16.23 + 26.33 = 42.56
5th Red Ward 10.55 + 20.18 = 30.73
Summary of the results of the matches played on the evening of Sunday 2 June 2024
at the Flag Bearers and Musicians Tournament
Under 21 Single
1st Rione Verde: Marco Bertoni, with Michela Pantera (tamburina) points 24.90
2nd Rione Giallo: Luca Giuseppe Corvino and Enrico Pederzoli (tamburino) points 21.37
3rd Rione Rosso: Nicholas Solaroli, with Martina Rossi (drummer) points 21.16
4th Borgo Durbecco: Alessandro Ricci, with Filippo Maurizi (drummer) 17.34 points
5th Rione Nero: Damiano Frediani, with Ginevra Cipriani (tamburina) points 14.10
Under 21 Pairs – 15th Marco Testa Trophy
1st Rione Giallo: Kevin Liverani and Federico Locatelli points 21.16
2nd Rione Rosso: Nicholas Solaroli and Federico Piazza points 20.55
3rd Rione Verde: Marco Bertoni and Nicola Dal Pozzo points 19.83
4th Borgo Durbecco: Federico Maurizi and Davide Guerrini points 18.05
5th Rione Nero: Marco Ciliento and Michele Fiume points 14.79
Drummers of the Under 21 Couples
1st Yellow District: Lorenzo Ghiselli points 71.60
2nd Borgo Durbecco: Mattia Comani points 69.70
3rd Red Rione: Alessia D’Amico points 67.10
4th Black Ward: Ginevra Cipriani points 62.50
5th Rione Verde: Michela Pantera points 59.10
