On Sunday 17 th June the annual Palio Della Balestra was held in La Villa. The archery competition took place in the grounds of the beautiful Villa Ada, up the hill behind the village of La Villa.

It is a good excuse for people to dress up in gorgeous medieval costumes and shoot arrows at targets…..or just watch other people shoot arrows at targets. Lots of fun was had by all.

One of the handsome young knights had trouble doing his hair given that he was wearing rather large gloves. Fortunately one of his mates helped out.

That is much easier to fit under a helmet.

There were some serious archers.

Arrows were checked and removed from the targets.

Scores were discussed.

There were flowers to be presented to winners.

There was a display of medieval food preparation.

There were weapons to be discussed.

Meanwhile there was a little market in La Villa.

After the first round of the competition the participants were joined by drummers and other musicians for a parade into town.

The drummers were excellent.

Look at this gorgeous young drummer.

Actually they were all gorgeous.

There were also bagpipes.

Here is a last look at the handsome young knight.

Then it was time for lunch before the next round of competition……but by then it was hot and I went home.

When you visit and town or village make sure you check with the information centre to see what festivals are on….you wouldn’t want to miss one.

Thank you to Ilario (see comments below) for letting me know that Bagni di Lucca’s crossbow team is the champion team in Italy. I told you there were some serious archers there.

Click here to see the 2013 event.