It begins with a rich and pompous Historical Parade, featuring over five hundred participants in costumes from various eras, who, along the route, also perform musical shows, ancient dances, duel reenactments, and other small performances.
Traditional events also include the Goose Palio, a raft race on the Adige River; the Tonca, which involves immersing a condemned blasphemer, locked in a cage, into the river waters; the Religious Procession and the Masquerade of the Ciusi and Gobj, which recalls the ancient polenta dispute, the staple dish of the popular tables, between Trento and Feltre.
Adding to all this is the Tribunal of Penance, set up in Piazza Fiera, in front of which prosecution and defense challenge each other in a farcical verbal duel concerning the misdeeds committed during the current year by political and non-political figures of Trento’s public life; the Square Dance; nocturnal and secret Trento; and the setup of Borgo San Vigilio, transforming some streets and squares in the city center into a perfect medieval village, animated by costumed characters, street artists, artisanal craft markets, wood sculpture competitions, exhibitions from Trentino’s museums and ecomuseums, culinary offers, and much more.
