LE GAITE

Bevagna, June 19-30, 2024

The Mercato delle Gaite is inspired by the ancient division of Bevagna (PG) into four districts called Gaite. The administrative organization of the city in medieval times was based on it. The purpose of the event is to reconstruct, with the greatest historical relevance and wealth of details, the daily life of the inhabitants of the village in the period between 1250 and 1350.

For ten days, at the end of June, Bevagna takes a dip in this remote past: the ancient shops of medieval crafts reopen their doors and resume their activities; the streets are populated with bevanati who in period clothes live the daily life of their ancestors by eating, working, playing just like them. Today as then, the city is divided into four Gaite, but today each rivals the others in an attempt to give a historically faithful interpretation of the role it played in the Middle Ages. The spirit of competition is the basis of the animated event and takes the form of participation in 4 competitions: Competition of Professions, Gastronomic Competition, Market Competition and Archery Competition. With a complex system of points, assigned by scholars and experts in various fields and called to judge the historical relevance of the reconstructions, the winner is declared on the last day of the event and receives the Palio della Vittoria as a gift. The strong spirit of belonging to one’s own Gaita makes the competitions very interesting and stimulates a continuous improvement of the Gaite proposals in the various sectors, with a clear advantage of the general quality of the Festival. The Mercato delle Gaite is now counted among the most important historical events in Umbria and is part of the Regional Association of Historical Events.