Seven Piedmont Villages Will Race Donkeys at Cocconato and the Last Will Host an Anchovy Feast
Two qualifying heats, a repechage and a final decide the painted banner, with the losing district paying its forfeit to the whole town next August.
Seven village districts will race donkeys through the streets of Cocconato, a hill town in the Asti province of Piedmont, on Sunday 27 September 2026 in the 57th edition of the Palio degli Asini.
Airali, Brina, Colline Magre, Moransengo, San Carlo, Torre and Tuffo compete in Piazza Melchiorre and Piazza Cavour, with two qualifying heats, a repechage and a final deciding who takes the drappo, the painted banner awarded to the winner.
Custom dictates that the district finishing last must lay on a festival built around anchovies for the whole community the following August, a forfeit that has survived alongside the race itself.
The historical procession, in period costume and with a traditional narrator, leaves at 2pm, after a morning mass and the blessing of the banners. Racing starts at 4pm and entry to the village is free.
The palio is spread over two weekends, with a medieval fair on 19 and 20 September preceding the racing weekend of 26 and 27 September. Marco Gabusi, a regional councillor, said events such as the Cocconato palio represented a uniqueness the area should take pride in.