Bucchianico is perched on a hill in the province of Chieti, in the Abruzzo region.
Its rural surroundings are peppered with olive groves, vineyards and gullies.
In preparation of the feast of Saint Urban, the town’s patron saint, locals come together on the third Sunday of May for a re-enactment of a military event that took place in the 13th century.
Legend has it that an army from the nearby city of Chieti had challenged locals to a battle to force the town under its jurisdiction.
The army from Chieti was much bigger than that of Bucchianico and would have certainly won.
Locals residing in the countryside hurried to seek refuge inside the town’s walls, with the men using oxen to transport supplies and the women carrying baskets of goods on their heads.
Saint Urban came to the local military leader in a dream, suggesting a strategy that involved arming all able-bodied townsmen with armour and colourful plumes of feathers and ordering them to run in a serpentine pattern so that the army would look much bigger than it actually was and would deter its opponents.
The trick worked and, frightened, the army of Chieti refrained from attacking.
To commemorate the triumph, the entire town participates in an annual parade, with residents both young and old walking to the main square in a zig-zag pattern similar to their 13th-century ancestors.
The women carry large baskets of bright flowers made from crepe paper on their heads.
They gather regularly for weeks leading up to the event to craft their colourful creations.
Those who have taken part in the festival their whole lives become skilled enough that they can walk and balance the baskets on their heads without using their hands.
This intergenerational tradition highlights the history of the town and unites its residents in a way that only an Italian festa can.
