The equestrian joust of the Carnival
Every year on the last Sunday and Tuesday of Carnival, Oristano celebrates the Sartiglia, one of the oldest and most spectacular equestrian festivals in the Mediterranean, documented since the sixteenth century and perhaps of even older Spanish or medieval origin. Its name comes from the Spanish "sortija", ring, and the heart of the event is a joust in which masked knights at full gallop try to spear a star hanging from a ribbon with a sword or a wooden lance: the more stars are taken, the more abundant the harvest of the year will be.
The protagonist is the Su Componidori, the master of the joust, chosen each year by the guilds of the farmers and the carpenters. On the morning of the festival, in a solemn ritual, he is dressed by young women in traditional costume, the "massaieddas", on a table, without ever touching the ground: he wears a white shirt, a leather jacket, a veil, a black top hat and an androgynous mask of pale wood, which makes him a sacred, almost divine figure. Then he leads the procession of the knights through the streets and is the first to try to take the star. After the joust comes the Sa Pariglia, breathtaking acrobatics in which three knights standing on their galloping horses perform pyramids and balancing acts along the course. At the end, the Componidori blesses the crowd with "sa pippia de maju", a sceptre of violets and periwinkles.
Tip: grandstand tickets are sold in advance; the Sartiglia Foundation and the Casa della Sartiglia explain the history and rituals.
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