Historic Regatta of Santa Ubaldesca | Calcinaia

The regatta has been held for 185 years in Calcinaia on the banks of the River Arno on the fifth Sunday in May (if it falls on the calendar of the year, otherwise it slips to the first Sunday in June).

After a costume parade, a race is held between the town’s districts on the River Arno, in honour of Calcinaia’s patron saint, Santa Ubaldesca Taccini. The “Montecchio”, “Oltrarno” and “La Nave” districts take part in the regatta: the Montecchio district occupies the northern and eastern part of the town and represents Calcinaia´s middle-class life; the Oltrarno district occupies the area south of the Arno and represents the working-class people who in the past lived in the countryside in front of the town; the La Nave district occupies the area north of the Arno near the medieval castle and represents the lord and his soldiers.

The race takes place on the River Arno in Calcinaia in the mirror along a course of about 700 metres, divided into 3 lanes delimited by buoys, on special hulls (lances with six rowers and a helmsman) in the form of a single race. The competition recalls the ancient activity of navicellai, who used to transport sand, bricks and timber from Calcinaia on barges (‘navicelli’) to the port of Livorno.