Posts Tagged ‘Pietralunga’

It’s ‘ceri’ weekend in Gubbio, and we do believe it’s the official kick off for all of the fine weather festas in Umbria. For the uninitiated, the ceri (pronounced ‘cherry’) is a race where three enormous wooden, octagonal ‘candles’ are carried upright, on the strapping shoulders of the robust ‘cerioli’ men all the way up to St Ubaldo’s church. Which happens to be so steep, there is a funiculare to carry mere mortals up the hill; and it’s not really a race because they start out in the same order and end up in the same order. That however does not in anyway diminish the enthusiasm of the crowds.