On the afternoon of the Sunday before May 23th, there is the procession, with all the immense cultural and anthropological baggage that such an ancient event can transmit with its 700 years of uninterrupted life. It is not a re-enactment, one of the many born a few decades ago, but an authentic and original festival. It is no coincidence that for some years now it has been under the patronage of the UNESCO National Commission, as well as that of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities. It has had the honour of obtaining the support of the President of the Republic, Giorgio Napolitano. Recognitions that only a few festivals of this kind have. Il pubblico rimarrà sorpreso nel vedere il corteo storico, con circa centomila fiori realizzati dalle donne in carta crespa durante le sere invernali; nell’ammirare i carri preparati dagli uomini con grande perizia artistica ed artigianale e The public will be amazed to see the historical procession, with about a hundred thousand flowers made by the women in crepe paper during the winter evenings; to admire the floats prepared by the men with great artistic and craftsmanship skills and designed to make them last and not to be dismantled the next day; to see thousands of festive bucchianichesi in their traditional costumes parading, dancing and singing. per farli durare e non per essere smontati all’indomani; nel vedere migliaia di bucchianichesi in festa che con il loro tradizionale costume sfilano, ballano e cantano.

This is a festival that requires a whole year’s preparation. It is organised every year by a Banderese (who remains in office for a year) with the help of his entire family up to the seventh degree (in concrete terms, about a thousand people participate). Each person has a specific role to play: the sergeant, the Banderese, the Banderese’s wife, children and mother, the mayor, the parish priest, the family, the company, the contrada, etc.

The day of the procession is an expression of the fruit of a year’s work marked by a series of rites and ceremonies that are repeated. It is a choral celebration organised by the people, who finance themselves to celebrate their Saint Urban, pope and martyr.

For the feast, crepe paper flowers of all colours and shapes are made by the women, in the evening, while praying the rosary. They are then completed and placed in baskets, which are carried on the heads of the “pacchianelle”, from very young girls to older women. They all share the same enthusiasm and desire to be there. The best ones carry them on their heads, without the help of their hands, in perfect balance, while the men build the floats. Some of them are made by the contrade, with themes inherent to the peasant life, four are instead made by the family of Banderese and have pre-established themes because they represent what the peasants, threatened by the besiegers, brought with them escaping, as evacuees, within the walls of Bucchianico (the bread, the bed, the wood, the wine). There is often a fifth one (the thanksgiving one) made by the young people of the Banderese family.

Another age-old tradition is the making of the plumes that are attached to the headgear of the Banderese. They are beautiful, voluminous, colourful, resistant and to obtain them in this way it is necessary to follow particular and ancient procedures, tying, one by one, the feathers of various farmyard animals (cocks, turkeys, guinea hens, etc.).

The festival comprises several characteristic moments that are held over a period of about ten days.

The sergeant is the highest authority of the festival and is a hereditary position that belongs to the Tatasciore-papal family of Bucchianico. The name means commander, consignee of the Holy Weapon, which in ancient times was a halberd, type “sorgentina”. He is the descendant of the commander who defended Bucchianico with the intercession of S. Urbano.

Banderese, on the other hand, means “knight who leads the vassals with his own flag”. It is publicly drawn on the first Sunday after the 27th of May in the presence of the mayor and the parish priest. All residents of Bucchianico outside the old town, married and with children, with a clean criminal record and impeccable morals, can apply. A lottery will be held among them. From that moment on, he became a Banderese and that very evening he held his first party open to the townspeople. He then gathers the family up to the seventh degree, chooses the chiefs of the village and organises the feast in May of the following year. He buys and raises the calf that will open the procession and that will be sacrificed and eaten on the 25 of May.