Ceri Race Festival

Every 15th day of May, the people of Gubbio are celebrating the Ceri Race Festival. All the streets of Gubbio are full of colors, with thousands of Gubbio citizens leading the three Candles, weighting each one more than 4 quintals, in an exalting race from the city (Palazzo dei Consoli) to the Basilica of Saint Ubaldo, through the medieval streets and up on the hill for a dip of more than 300 m. It was been organized without any interruption since the last years of the XIIth century. The belonging of the Candle is very important in the life of Gubbio citizens, it is a sort of qualifying emblem linked to the kind of job that in past was passing from father to son from a generation to the other. The colors of the uniforms of the "ceraiole" (candle holders) are linked to the cloths of the protecting Saint of the corporations: yellow for the "ceraioli" of St. Ubaldo, blue for those of St. Giorgio and black for those of St Antonio. This unique tradition, attracts thousands of persons during 15th of May. And this is a secular tradition that has always unified the entire Gubbio population; this is the confirmation of an authentic devotion for the Saints of the antique corporations of the mason bricklayers, traders and farmers. The remembrance of this event is so important inside the region that the "Ceri" are nowadays the institutional symbol of Umbria.
At the inside part of Saint Ubaldo Basilica, in the right nave, the ceri are stored from the evening of May 15th of every year until the first Sunday of May of the following year.