Foligno's Giostra della Quintana is not a Renaissance fair. It's a jousting competition between the city's ten historic districts — real horses, real lances, 700 costumed participants, 20,000 spectators. It's been running continuously since 1613. For the week surrounding each giostra, the city's restaurants serve historical recipes. This is the guide that covers everything.
Read the guide →The Giostra della Quintana di Foligno is a twice-yearly equestrian tournament in the Umbrian city of Foligno. Ten knights representing the city's ten historic districts (rioni) compete to strike a suspended ring with a lance while riding at full gallop. The smallest ring scores the most points. A historical procession of 700 costumed participants precedes the competition. The spectators (up to 20,000) divide loyally by rione. This is not theatre — the competition is real, the horses are trained specifically for this, and the knights practise year-round.
The tournament has been documented continuously since 1613. The name comes from the quintana — originally a pivoting wooden figure used as a cavalry training target, replaced in modern editions with suspended rings at varying heights. The current format dates from the 1946 restoration of the event after WWII interrupted it from 1940 to 1945.
Giostra del Giugno (third Sunday in June, afternoon): Held at the Stadio Enzo Blasone outside the city centre — a modern venue with 20,000 seats. This is the main competition event of the year; points from the June giostra affect the running rione ranking. The costumes are the year's most elaborate. Start time typically 4pm; the full event (procession + competition) lasts 3–4 hours. Tickets €15–35.
Giostra di Settembre (second Saturday of September, evening): Held in Piazza della Repubblica in the city centre, lit by torches. The medieval square setting makes this the more visually spectacular of the two events. Start time typically 9pm. Tickets €20–45 (best positions sell out fastest). Book via quintanafoligno.it — 3–4 weeks ahead for September, 2 weeks for June. The September event by torchlight is the one to prioritise if you can only attend one.
The week surrounding each Giostra, all ten districts operate their own taverna (restaurant). These serve historical recipes from 15th–17th century Umbrian sources — dishes that don't appear on any other menu in Italy. The combined tables at all ten taverne serve approximately 40,000 meals during Quintana week. Dinner only, 8pm–midnight. No advance booking required — arrive, find a table, eat. Average cost: €20–30 for a full meal with local Umbrian wine.
The taverne vary in food quality but all serve genuinely historical menus. Rione Cassero and Rione Ammanniti have historically received the best food reviews from local residents (who take these rankings seriously). The atmosphere during Quintana week — everyone in costume or at least in the rione colours, strong opinions about the tournament — is one of Italy's best event-week experiences.
Tickets: quintanafoligno.it — book online. September sells out in popular sectors 3–4 weeks ahead. June usually has availability until 1–2 weeks before.
Getting there: Foligno station (Rome–Ancona line) is 20 minutes from Spoleto, 30 minutes from Perugia, 2 hours from Rome. The station is 1km from the centre. By car: A1 or E45, then SS75.
Accommodation: Book 4–6 weeks ahead for Quintana weeks. Spoleto and Assisi are 25–30 minutes away and have more options if Foligno is full.
Foligno is consistently overlooked despite containing: Palazzo Trinci (1411 fresco cycle by the workshop of Gentile da Fabriano — one of the finest early 15th-century secular painting cycles in central Italy, free with Foligno museum pass), the Cathedral with its extraordinary 12th-century Romanesque facade, and proximity to Spello (6km — Pinturicchio frescoes in the Cappella Baglioni, the best single fresco room in Umbria outside Perugia). The Quintana is reason to go; Foligno and its surroundings are reason to stay.
Tickets for the Giostra della Quintana di Foligno are available at quintanafoligno.it. The September event (Piazza della Repubblica, torchlit, more spectacular) sells out faster — book 3–4 weeks ahead for good sector positions. The June event (stadium) usually has availability until 2 weeks before. Prices: €15–35 for June (stadium), €20–45 for September (depending on sector). The most popular and most expensive sectors are those closest to the course — the ringside sections facing the scoring ring. Higher rows (cheaper) still give excellent views of the procession. Cash and card accepted at collection points in Foligno on the day.
Umbria has several medieval competitions: Corsa all'Anello (Narni, April and May — ring-tilting on horseback, smaller than Foligno), Giostra della Quintana di Ascoli Piceno (Marche region, August — similar format to Foligno), Palio dei Terzieri di Città della Pieve (August, archery competition between neighbourhoods). The Foligno Quintana is the largest and best-produced of the central Italian medieval events. The Palio di Siena (July and August) is the most famous Italian horse-race event but is a different format — a race around Piazza del Campo rather than a jousting competition.
Yes — Foligno contains Palazzo Trinci (1411 fresco cycle, some of the best early 15th-century secular painting in Italy, €5 entry), the Cathedral of San Feliciano (12th-century Romanesque facade, free), and proximity to Spello (Pinturicchio frescoes, 6km), Assisi (18km), Trevi (8km, the least-touristed and possibly the most beautiful hill town in Umbria), and Spoleto (28km, the Festival dei Due Mondi in summer). As a base for the Umbrian valley between Assisi and Spoleto, Foligno is underrated and cheaper than both neighbouring towns.
The Giostra della Quintana is the most spectacular of Umbria's medieval competitions but exists within a region that takes medieval heritage seriously across multiple towns. Related: Assisi guide, Umbria travel guide, central Italy travel context.
Ticket booking, taverna reservations, accommodation, and Umbria itinerary planning from our team.
La Redazione di TourLeaderPro.comItaly rewards the visitor who understands its rhythms. These are the patterns that change the quality of every day:
Campanilismo — the bell tower identity: Every Italian town is intensely proud of its own specific traditions, food, dialect, and history — and mildly contemptuous of the town next door. The cooking of Foligno is different from Spoleto 28km away. The pizza debate between Naples and Rome is genuinely heated among Italians, not a tourist marketing exercise. The rivalry between Modena and Bologna over tortellini vs. tortelloni is unresolvable. Understanding campanilismo — this fierce local identity — helps explain why Italy feels like a collection of city-states rather than a single country. It also explains why regional food is so specific and interesting: nobody accepted a standardised national cuisine when their own version was obviously superior.
The aperitivo as a mandatory social structure: The aperitivo hour (6–8:30pm) is not optional in Italian social life — it's the bridge between work and dinner, a time to decompress with a drink and something small to eat before the serious meal begins. Italians who skip dinner to save money or appetite will still have the aperitivo. Adding this hour to your own schedule — stopping at a bar for a Campari Soda, Negroni, or Aperol Spritz at 6:30pm before dinner at 8:30pm — aligns your rhythm with the local one. The food at the aperitivo bar (which can be elaborate in Milan and Turin, simpler elsewhere) bridges the hunger gap without ruining dinner.
Sunday morning: Italy's open secret: Sunday mornings between 7am and noon are the best time to visit any Italian city's historic centre. Tourist buses haven't arrived. Locals are at church or at a slow breakfast. The light on stone buildings at 7–9am is extraordinary. The ZTL restrictions are often relaxed. You can walk through the Roman Forum, Piazza della Signoria in Florence, or Palermo's Vucciria market in near-solitude. Plan one Sunday morning specifically for a place that's usually crowded.
The giorno di riposo rule: Every Italian restaurant, shop, and museum closes one day per week — usually Monday (when they're restocking after the weekend) or Wednesday. This is the Italian equivalent of the weekend for people who work weekends. Always check closing days before building a specific visit around any restaurant, market, or cultural site. The most expensive mistake in Italian tourism: driving 90 minutes to a specific trattoria that's closed on Tuesday.
The tabacchi solves most problems: The Italian tobacconist (tabaccheria, "T" sign) sells stamps, bus and metro tickets, phone top-ups, lottery tickets, notarial stamps (marche da bollo for official documents), and often photocopies. When you can't figure out where to buy something practical in an Italian city, the tabacchi on the next corner probably sells it or knows where to get it. Queue is usually zero. Open 8am–8pm six days a week.
Early morning (first 30 minutes after opening) for museums and churches — Uffizi, Colosseum, Vatican Museums all have lower crowds in the first hour. Late afternoon (4–6pm) for churches that require midday closure. Early morning (7–9am) on any day, especially Sunday, for outdoor sights and piazze. Avoid midday (11am–3pm) in summer for outdoor sights — the combination of heat and peak tourist numbers is worst then. The Italian habit of visiting sights early and spending midday eating and resting (the pranzo meal is serious) aligns with both the light quality and the crowd patterns. Adopt it.
What you eat and experience in Italy changes month by month in ways that matter for planning:
January–February: The best months for authenticity and lowest prices. Truffle season at its peak (black winter truffle, Norcia and Spoleto, December–March). Carnival pastries in Naples (struffoli, pastiera), Venice (frittole, galani), and Turin (bugie). Ski season in the Dolomites and Alps. The historic centres of Italian cities are occupied primarily by residents rather than visitors. Hotel rates are at annual minimums. The light in Tuscany and Umbria in winter — sharp, clear, low-angle — is extraordinary on stone buildings.
March–April: Artichoke season begins in March — Rome's carciofi alla giudia and alla romana (the two competing artichoke traditions, one Jewish-Roman, one from the Campagna) appear at their best from March to early May. Easter is the most intense liturgical event in Italy, most spectacular in Rome (Colosseum Via Crucis, St Peter's Square Easter Mass) and in Sicilian towns (particularly Enna and Trapani, where centuries-old Easter processions fill the streets for days). Spring asparagus in the Veneto and Emilia-Romagna from late March.
May–June: The best months for general Italy travel: warm (18–25°C), not yet hot, school groups finished, Italians not yet on their August holiday. New Tuscan olive oil from the autumn pressing is at its best in spring. White truffle fair preview events in Piedmont. The Cinque Terre coastal path at its most walkable. Flower festivals across Italy — the Infiorata di Noto (Sicilian baroque town streets carpeted with flower petals, Corpus Christi in June) and the Infiorata di Spello (Umbria, same occasion) are extraordinary visual events.
July–August: Peak tourist season everywhere. Italian cities lose residents to the coast (August especially — many restaurants, shops, and services close for 2–4 weeks as staff take their holiday). Beach and lake culture activates. If you must visit in summer: the Adriatic coast towns have better beaches with fewer international tourists than the Tyrrhenian. The Dolomites are cooler and genuinely beautiful in July. Sardinia and Sicily are worth the heat if you spend mornings at the beach and evenings in town.
September–October: The best months for food and wine tourism. Grape harvest across all Italian wine regions (September). Olive harvest in Tuscany, Umbria, and the south (October–November). White truffle beginning October in Piedmont (the Alba fair). Porcini mushroom season in the Apennines and Dolomites. Temperatures moderate to 18–24°C. Italians return from August holidays. Every food market — Testaccio in Rome, Quadrilatero in Bologna, Ballarò in Palermo — is at maximum activity and quality.
November–December: Truffle season peaks (white truffle November, black winter from December). New olive oil (olio nuovo — intensely green, peppery, slightly bitter, the best olive oil you will ever taste) at producers and markets. Chestnut season (marroni) across central Italy. Christmas markets in Bolzano, Trento, and Turin. Bologna and Milan in December are extraordinary food cities without summer tourist congestion.
For food and wine: September–October (harvest season, maximum quality and variety, post-summer crowds). For overall travel quality without extremes: May–June (warm, manageable crowds, everything open and staffed). For lowest prices and maximum authenticity: January–February (cold in the north, extraordinary light, entirely local atmosphere). For beach: late June and early September (water warm, crowds below July–August peak). For truffle: October–November (white truffle, Alba fair). For artichokes and spring markets: March–April. For winter cultural depth: November–December in Bologna, Milan, and Rome. Avoid August in cities — the infrastructure is there but the soul has gone to the beach.