The premise (warm as always) was last night’s propitiatory dinners: 4 thousand young and old at the table in their respective neighborhoods (four in fact) to make the Saracen Joust of which the first edition takes place tonight in Arezzo, in nocturnal: it is number 145 since the revival in 1931 and is dedicated to the centenary of Giorgio Vasarithe other great event of the year in the city where the great artist was born and where, in addition to everything else, the Piazza Grande (Vasari is the second name) where the Giostra and the Via d access in which the eight knights who will fight against the Buratto-King of the Indies this evening will prepare for their careers.
Nighttime revelry on Christmas Eve
Already the eve of what is the event par excellence for the Arezzo people, the very symbol of their identity, has been agitated, with the historic center of the dinners transformed into a large open-air eatery and a limitless disco under the stars , with deafening music and songs until dawn, to the joy (so to speak) of the residents, now resigned to these sleepless nights.
The pepper spray incident
Nor was there any accident. In Porta Crucifera, the neighborhood where the Giostra has always been most popular, some wretch sprayed a stinging spray on the crowd. It took the 118 ambulances to intervene, eight boys were treated on site for intoxication, but in the end nothing serious. Even worse has happened in the past: fights, fistfights and even, years ago, a gunshot fired by a security guard in panic after being surrounded by delirious neighborhood watchers.
The tests in the square
The entire day of this Saturday lives on the Joust, like the week that began on Sunday, which saw the trials in the square, the simulated edition on Wednesday and the General Test or Provaccia on Thursday, in which the reserve riders compete. For the record, Porta Sant’Andrea won and is now making spells: the cabal wants whoever wins the Provaccia not to win the Golden Lance.
How the race works
Yes, because Sant’Andrea, together with Santo Spirito, is the obligatory favorite of the Giostra vera, under the powerful spotlights of Piazza Grande. The competition is simple: the eight jousters, two per district, throw themselves against the billboard on the Buratto’s arm, which contains scores from one from the outermost shot to five from the four-centimetre diameter disk in the centre. Then the sum is added and the neighborhood with the highest score wins. In case of a tie, the play-offs continue to the bitter end.
The hunt for the “five”
Obviously the five is the strange object of desire of the eight knights as well as the rectors and neighborhood captains who orchestrate their strategies. Even catching it while stationary is difficult, let alone with the horses going at 60 km an hour, blinded and unnerved by the lights. Yet all the jousters who take part in the competition this evening have the center in their bag. The rest depends on lucidity, cold blood and even luck.
The couple to beat
The couple to beat of the last decade is that of Santo Spirito, Elia Cicerchia and Gian Maria Scortecci, 12 victories from 2012 to today. But Sant’Andrea fields two young players, Tommaso Marmorini and Saverio Montini, who are capable of easily achieving the maximum, i.e. ten points. A little further back is the last winner (last year in September, in the most classic edition) Porta Crucifera, which changes one of its jousters, with Gabriele Innocenti, vast experience, who joins Lorenzo Vanneschi.
…and the «grandmother»
Finally Porta del Foro, the “grandmother” because it hasn’t won since 2019, with Francesco Rossi and Davide Parsi, plus an excellent coach, Enrico Vedovini, one of the most successful riders in history. Ezio Gori, of Santo Spirito, the most decorated rector of all time, is missing for the first time in ten years: 13 golden lances. Leading the roll of honor in the Porta Santo Spirito and Porta Crucifera districts with 39 successes, followed at 38 by Sant’Andrea. Porta del Foro is further away at 27 m. altitude.
The morning, which began with the first mortar shot from the Medici Fortress, continues with the historical procession through the streets of the center and the reading of the announcement. Then, from 8pm, the colorful parade to Piazza Grande, where the Giostra will begin more or less at 10pm. Immediately after the Herald has read his challenge, accompanied by the roar of the public (sold out in the 4 thousand seater stands): «To the field, to the battle, to the weapons, to the weapons».
