St. Ubaldo Day – 2005
June 25th, 2005
This past Memorial Day the people of Jessup, Pennsylvania hosted a truly unique celebration of Italian culture and heroes of the past => St. Ubaldo Day. Three teams, each representing a different saint (St. Ubaldo, St. George, and St. Anthony), raced through the streets of Jessup while carrying a statue of their respective saint on an “H” shaped platform. St. Ubaldo won again, as he does every year.
The story of Ubaldo and La Festa dei Ceri (Race of the Saints) dates back to the 12th century. Ubaldo persuaded Frederick I (Barbarossa), a conquering barbarian of Northern Europe, to not attack the city of Gubbio, Italy. They met outside the walls of Gubbio, and upon being away for some length of time, residents of Gubbio feared that Ubaldo had failed and the city would be at the mercy of the barbarians. To prove that he was still alive and succeeded in saving the city from attack, Ubaldo was put on a platform and raced through the streets of Gubbio. To this day Jessup, Pennsylvania and Gubbio, Italy are the only places in the world that hold this Race of the Saints.
Click the image to view pictures from the 2005 St. Ubaldo Day.
May 26th, 2007 at 12:51 pm
[...] I wish I could be there! [...]