Festa dei Ceri: Gubbio's race on May 15

The Festa dei Ceri runs in Gubbio on May 15 every year, a fixed date: the race sets off at 6:00 pm after the Bishop's blessing and covers about 2.7 miles (4.3 km) up Monte Ingino to the Basilica of Sant'Ubaldo.

May 15, whatever the weekday

The date is fixed: May 15, every year, regardless of the weekday or of Easter. You can put it in a calendar a year ahead, before anyone announces anything.

The race starts at 6:00 pm (18:00 on posters in town), after the Bishop's blessing. The day in Gubbio is built around that hour, and so is the traffic.

Three Ceri, three trades, no overtaking

There is no overtaking in the Festa dei Ceri, and the three Ceri arrive in the order they left: Sant'Ubaldo first, San Giorgio second, Sant'Antonio third. Each belongs to a trade, masons for Sant'Ubaldo, merchants for San Giorgio, farmers for Sant'Antonio.

What the teams compete on is how the Cero travels: as upright as they can hold it, without falls and without the leaning the town calls pendute. A clean climb beats a quick one, which is why the crowd cheers moments a visitor wouldn't notice.

Where the Ceri spend the year

The three Ceri stay in the Basilica of Sant'Ubaldo all year, at the top of Monte Ingino where the race finishes. The statuettes of the three saints are kept separately, in the church of San Francesco della Pace in town.

So the objects you see carried uphill on May 15 are the ones that come back down only for the feast. What the day does to the rest of Gubbio is in Gubbio stops on May 15.

Spoleto, later in the summer

The Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto held its 69th edition from June 26 to July 12, 2026, with the theme Radici e ali (roots and wings) and Daniele Cipriani as artistic director. Its 2027 dates had not been published as of September 1, 2026.

The festival overlaps with Umbria Jazz in Perugia, 37 miles (60 km) away, so an early-summer trip can take in two festivals. The region as a whole is at Umbria.

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