YA-29: Contrada parties

This is my last post about Siena (*sad emoji*). I didn’t want to close my Year Abroad series without a short little mention to contrada parties, which were a big part of the Senese student’s life and, thus, of my Erasmus.

As I’ve said before, Siena is divided in 17 contradas or quarters. Each quarter has their own Patron Saint and so they have what is called Festa Titolare to honour it, a big party in their contrada church and streets which lasts anywhere from 3 days to a week and sometimes even more. The streets are lit up with ornate street lights and you can hear the sound of the bells ringing and the drums of the parades or giri, in which the contradaioli tour Siena dressed in their contrada colours and traditional clothes, waving their flags around. There are special religious services like the Christening of the new contradaioli, followed by the festa popolare which usually consists of a massive community dinner in the contrada’s società or gardens, followed by music.

If you aren’t part of a contrada it can be quite hard to know when each one has their feste titolare. One day, as you walked through a certain contrada and noticed the street lights being put up it was clear something was up – the calm before the storm. Perhaps, like me, you might’ve lived right in the middle of one and sat through the setting up of the contrada dinner. Most of it is word-of-mouth. These events aren’t necessarily limited to contradaioli: I was able to attend the Oca baptism and also a dinner at Onda, but I did feel like sort of an intruder, without the scarf and clearly speaking another language. However, contradaioli are actually very welcoming and proud of their traditions so, as long as you are respectful, I’m sure you will have a great time.

I would recommend going to a cena if you have the opportunity, in order to experience the contrada feel properly. I went to one of the Onda cene with Megan and we really enjoyed ourselves and ticked an experience off our bucket-lists. Make sure you find out how it works though, because for some cene you have to book places in advance at the società, whereas for others you just show up and pay for what you order. For instance, at Onda we paid on the day, but there was also a more formal dinner at a nearby restaurant for which you had to book in advance – thanks to a contradaiolo in Bar a Onda who was kind enough to explain it to us. 

During the Drago celebrations honouring Santa Caterina da Siena (29^th April), I was also able to see how they set up the dinner along my street. Starting early in the morning when they were setting up the games for the children like the pista di barberi and the different food stalls and tables, through to the early hours of the morning with happy contradaioli singing their hymns and laughing. A shot of the festivities snapped from my kitchen window won me the #MySiena competition run by the ESN. It was an amazing day I will never forget!

The religious services I didn’t go to, aside from the baptism at Oca near Fontebranda, which Megan and I just attended to see what it was like. The atmosphere was solemn as the new contradaioli –babies and not so young- were welcomed into the contrada, christened with water from the fountain and given their own scarf.

During the festivities the contrada buildings are open to visitors, so even if you can’t make a cena, you should try to check the church and museums – they are so interesting and insightful!

But, what really made contrada parties a big part of the student life, were the late-night parties and concerts they did. I was in Siena between January and July, so I lived the city through Spring and Summer (when the Palio takes place) – probably the best time to be there! The parties shift from being indoors to being outside in the gardens and then the few weeks leading up to the Palio and the Palio itself are the best – the city is literally buzzing! The first few parties I went to were a collaboration between Onda and the ESN, in which you had to pay to get in, but later on, particularly in April and May, there were free outdoor contrada parties open to anybody – one of my best memories of Siena!

It all starts with the rumours going around of a party in this or that contrada that weekend – usually one, but even two or three on the same weekend – and deciding where to go and hoping the music will be good. Megan and I challenged ourselves to go to all 17 contradas, and managed to test 14 out of the 17, which was great!

Our favourites? Probably Chiocciola. Their garden  - l’Olivetta by Porta San Marco – is massive and the music was great both on the Friday and Saturday. We had a tonne of fun! Another one was Lupa – the party was inside the società because it was pouring outside and even though we were an odd bunch, that night we had a tonne of fun. Civetta’s outdoor party in Piazza Tolomei was also amazing – the rain didn’t keep us away! So was the music at Oca and Giraffa and many more. Location-wise, Istrice’s società is deceptively massive and the Bruco garden is huge and hidden. It is a hit-and-miss with contrada parties; you discover Siena’s secret locations and wish for a good crowd and good music as you never know what it might be – Dj? Folk? Rock group? I made so many memories going to them; I would do it all over in a heartbeat! You eventually start to recognize people’s faces and learn Italian songs and just enjoy yourself. Just make sure you don’t arrive too late, because they are done by  1 or 2am! Pantera, Nicchio and Torre, you are still on my list so I will have to go back…

Thanks, Siena, for being so unique. And thanks word-of-mouth and secret ways of knowing where the party is at. Also Megs, for being my loyal contrada party buddy – we had a tonne of great nights together!

Grazie tanto Siena, per avermi accolto così calorosamente. Apprezzerò i ricordi per sempre!

#OnceErasmusForeverErasmus

Passo e chiudo,

Zoe

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