1. I.T.C."A.GALLO
ORTA DI ATELLA (CE)
ITALY

2. TRADITIONS AT ORTA DI ATELLA
“THE TWELVE MONTHS RIDE” is one of the several performances of social,popular and rural life. It takes place mainly at Macerata Campania in the last days of Mardì Gras festivities (Carnevale) but other towns, such as Orta di Atella, have it on a various schedule.
The TWELVE MONTHS are represented by twelve “actors” which feature characters related to the agriculture and rural world.

3. Therefore people identify months with nature in its differents aspects and seasonal phases (sunrise and sunset, rain, sowing, harvest,blooming,ripening, pruning, grape harvest) or with daily and social life (weddings, the cult of the dead, prayers, as well as traditional holidays).

4. The festival develops following a certain rythm and a sequence
The festival develops following a certain rythm and a sequence. The main characters are the twelwe months and two minor characters:
NEW YEARS DAY/ CAPTAIN and PULCINELLA.
Initially the twelve months ride was performed riding horses.
Since 1981 horse-back riding doesn’t
take place anymore and the name has changed into “the Twelve months parade”.

5. Spectators express their approval or disapproval.
The actors gather in a circle and the performance begins by introducing themselves: first the Captain to be followed by the twelve months which sing rhymes with the same slow rythm and motif.
Spectators express their approval or disapproval.

6. The Actors/months hold a miniature of the tool (produce or craft) representing each month.

7. JANUARY Wears a trimmed hat with ribbons or scarves and silk shawls.
He holds a whip in his hands.

8. FEBRUARY
Dresses as January but in his hands he holds a whip with atop a bunch of everlasting flowers.

9. MARCH
Wears dark, dirty, rugged clothes.They remind sheperd clothes (once he used to wear a sheepskin vest).
In his hands he holds a piece of bread, some lecks and a hoe.

10. APRIL
Wears a hat and a wedding gawn with filmy curls made of tulle. Holds a
red or white roses bouquet.

11. MAY
He wears a white hat,trimmed with fresh flowers and a light summer dress, bracelets and rings.
He throws handful of sugarcoated almonds to the groups of youth. They hassle to pick at least one up as a sign of good luck.

12. JUNE
Dressed as a harvester with a hat trimmed with scarves and flowers.
He has a sickle, a wooden spoon, a clay pot full of soup.

13. JULY
Wears a shirt and shawls .His hat is magnificently trimmed with flowers and fruit ( it’s a symbol of abundance). He holds a small rickety barrow with some wheat spikelets inside.

14. AUGUST
A husky man,in a black suit, with black vest and top hat. He wears a white shirt and black bow tie.
He holds a black stick in his hand and a hen.
He wears glasses.

15. SEPTEMBER
Wears a white shirt, a hat trimmed with scarves and silk shawls.
He holds a basket of fruit in his hands.

16. OCTOBER
He holds a small cask tied to his waist. He wears a hat trimmed with scarves and a shawl around his body.
He has a ladder embroidered with ribbons in his hands.

17. NOVEMBER
Dressed like the other months, he has a small plough in his hands.

18. DICEMBER
He is dressed like the other months: with shawls, a hat trimmed with scarves and ribbons.
He has a small wine barrel in his hands.

19. Photo group: the twelve months,the Captain and the Pulcinellas.

20. Some months: May, November and October (from the left).

21. 1981
last year of the
“twelve months
ride”.

22. “The twelve Months parade”

23. THE END