Festa di San Secondo

Why it's special

This is where the Palio di Asti really begins. On the Saturday night the rectors of the rioni, borghi and towns that will race in September swear their oath in Piazza San Secondo, and the two new Palio banners are inspected and approved. On the saint's day the Comune offers one of them to the Collegiata, a ceremony that goes back to the second half of the 13th century, and the mayor and the parish priest hand out pasta e fagioli and a sweet 'caritin' biscuit, as charities did for the poor on feast days in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Programme · 2026

The Palio drappi for 2026 were painted by Marco Aru. Luna park in Piazza Campo del Palio from 1 to 10 May.

• The Saturday-night procession leaves Piazza Cattedrale at 21:30 and reaches Piazza San Secondo for the oath and the Stima at 22:00; in rain the ceremony moves into the Teatro Alfieri and the procession is cancelled.
• The fireworks on the Monday ('Lundes d'j feu') are let off from the banks of the Tanaro; watch from the Lungotanaro park.
• On the Tuesday, be in Piazza San Secondo by 10:30 for the A.S.T.A.
• flag-wavers before the procession enters the Collegiata; the soup is handed out in the piazza after the ceremony, around 12:30.
• The luna park in Piazza Campo del Palio runs for about ten days around the feast.
• The next day, Wednesday, the Fiera Carolingia fills the centre with hundreds of market stalls.

San Secondo has been Asti's patron since the Middle Ages. Tradition makes him a Roman officer martyred for his faith, while the liturgical sources place him among the city's early bishops. The city's motto, Aste nitet mundo Sancto Custode Secundo, "Asti shines in the world with Saint Secondo as its guardian", already appears on coins of the 13th century. The Palio, the horse race run every September, is raced in his honour, and the May festivities are where the Palio year begins.

On the Saturday night before the feast, a procession in medieval costume walks from Piazza Cattedrale to Piazza San Secondo. There the Captain of the Palio, the magistrates and the rectors of each rione, borgo and town swear to uphold the rules of the race. Then the estimatori, standing in for the old guild of weavers and merchants, inspect the two new banners: one for the September race and one for the Collegiata di San Secondo. When they pass, the mayor formally proclaims the race. On the Monday evening there are fireworks over the Tanaro, the Lundes d'j feu.

The feast itself falls on the first Tuesday of May. After the flag-wavers have performed in the piazza, the costumed groups of the Palio walk from the town hall into the Collegiata, and the Comune offers the banner to the church, a ceremony recorded since the second half of the 13th century. The banners given over the centuries hang along the nave, and the most recent ones are displayed on the Carroccio in the first chapel on the right. Outside, the mayor and the parish priest serve the Minestra dei Poveri, pasta e fagioli with a sweet biscuit called caritin. The next day the Fiera Carolingia takes over the streets of the centre. The following Saturday the flag-wavers' groups compete in Piazza Alfieri.

The race itself comes in September: see the Palio di Asti and what else there is to do in Asti.