It begins with a rich and pompous Historical Parade, featuring more than five hundred participants in costumes from various eras, who, along the route, also have the opportunity to perform musical shows, ancient dances, duel simulations, and other small performances.
Traditional are the Goose Palio, a raft race on the Adige; the Tonca, which consists of immersing a person condemned for blasphemy, locked in a cage, into the river waters; the Religious Procession and the Masquerade of the Ciusi and the Gobj, which recalls the ancient dispute over polenta, the main dish of popular tables, between Trento and Feltre.
Adding to all this is the Penitence Tribunal, set up in Piazza Fiera, in front of which prosecution and defense engage in a farcical verbal duel concerning the misdeeds committed during the current year by political and non-political figures in Trentino’s public life; the Dance in the square; nocturnal and secret Trento; and the setting up of Borgo San Vigilio, transforming some streets and squares in the city center into a perfect medieval village, animated by costumed characters, street artists, artisan craft markets, wood carving contests, exhibitions of Trentino museums and ecomuseums, gastronomic offerings, and much more.
