Feast of San Mamiliano
Mid-September, around the 15th
The Feast of St. Mamiliano began as a celebration of Giglio Island's patron saint, St. Mamiliano, but it has grown into a huge weeklong festival that includes everything these islanders love about their home.
While the finer details of the festival change each year, you can be sure that on the 15th, St. Mamiliano's saint's day, it will begin with a mass and procession around the island. The procession is a beautiful thing to witness as long as you don't have to carry the huge statue, which weighs more than it looks. During the procession, the priest chants prayers and blessings for the island's inhabitants and its visitors.
During the rest of the festival, thoughts turn to food and dance.
Locals are avid dancers and are not shy about showing their moves. The traditional dance of the festival is the square dance. It is an older, classier version of the square dance that is not the easiest thing to learn. Younger visitors do not despair though, there is always a DJ set later in the festival.
Among all the square dances is the annual Rabbit Festival. Expect a rabbit prepared in many ways. My favorite is with a thick, juicy tomato sauce.
If you're not already a little overwhelmed, I should mention that there are also children's games, fireworks, orchestra performances and raffle draws, and the event that everyone looks forward to: the Regional Donkey Palio.
Forget horses, at Giglio Island we race with donkeys. Yep, four donkeys and really well-trained jockeys represent the districts of Casamatta, Centro, Cisterna and Rocca in a race that is more than 60 years old. I have seen so many palii in Maremma and none are as entertaining as this one.
The Feast of Saint Mamilian is not a festival. There are at least five in one. It's like a little slice of Carnival in September and lots of fun for the whole family.
