On Saturday I went to a lovely festival in the little village of San Quirico d’Orcia. It began with a procession to the beat of the drum of competitors, musicians, flag wavers and supporters from each of the four contradas (village quarters) all dressed in Medieval costume, to a local historic park. Here archery and flag waving competitions took place between children of the four contradas. Then the winners were paraded through town, after which there were street parties with music, food and entertainment such as mock sword fighting. It was a very pleasant afternoon/evening in a very pretty little town in the Val d’Orcia area of Tuscany.