WINNER OF THE AUGUST PALIO 2014: CIVETTA (OWL)

After the frightening looking fall of the leading jockey of the Valdimontone (ram) neighborhood right at the beginning of the race, Aquila (eagle neighborhood) and its yellow wearing jockey seemed to be in pole position to win the Palio dell'Assunta in 2014. Nevertheless Occolé, the horse of the closely following Civetta (owl) had the better of them and won the race after leading it for the full last round, closely followed by the horses of contrada dell'Aquila and Chiocciola. 

Andrea Mari (called Brio) riding the winning horse Occolé 

for the Civetta neighborhood

When visiting Siena this summer and autumn you will not just see the colors and hear the victorious chants of the members of the Civetta neighborhood, but also those of the members of the Drago, the neighborhood of the dragon which won the July Palio 2014. 

Want to celebrate along? Join one of the 30 victory dinners organized by Civetta all through the roads of their neighborhood until Tuesday September 23 (make sure you book beforehand, details here). 

Not a friend of Civetta, but a supporter of il Drago? The festivities of the winner of the Palio della Madonna di Provenzano (run every year on the 2nd of July) are still in full swing. Contrada del Drago's big victory dinner will take place on Saturday, 27 of September. More info on the contrada website. 

What was it all about in the first place? For some basic notions and an introduction to the bareback horse race read What is the Palio di Siena.