Fermo's Cavalcata dell'Assunta: the oldest historical reenactment in Italy

What if the most famous medieval horse race in Italy… wasn’t actually the oldest? Everyone knows the renowned Palio of Siena, but few are aware that deep in the heart of the Marche region lies a horse race and historical reenactment that’s even older, a tradition rooted in a time when faith, power, and a community’s sense of identity came together in a single, solemn procession.

Every year in Fermo, on the eve of the Feast of the Assumption, the entire city pauses to look back and rediscover itself through the historical reenactment of the Cavalcata dell’Assunta. It’s more than a festival, it’s a collective return to the origins, to a time when devotion to the Virgin Mary shaped the spiritual, social, and political life of the region.