Barrel pushing
The main event: pushing the barrel through the old town at full speed.
Sunday 6 September · 14:30
23rd National Palio
of the Barrels
of the Wine Towns. The most awaited moment of the festival: after the historical parade, ten teams from all over Italy push the barrels along the streets of the village.
2026 edition
The ten teams competing
- Agliano Terme Asti
- Avio Trento — home team
- Brentino Belluno Verona
- Buttrio Udine
- Castelnuovo Don Bosco Asti
- Farra di Soligo Treviso
- Maggiora Novara
- Refrontolo Treviso
- Santa Venerina Catania
- Suvereto Livorno
How it works
Four contests
Each team has five members, accompanied by a representative of their own town. The overall winner takes the Palio di Avio; the winner of the pushing contest goes on to represent Avio at the National Palio of the Wine Towns.
Skittle slalom
The barrel has to be steered between skittles without knocking them over: control matters more than strength here.
Grape treading
Barefoot in the vat, the way it has always been done. Whoever produces the most must wins.
Filling the barrel
The final contest: decanting against the clock without spilling a drop.
Before the race
The historical parade
Every guest town arrives in Avio with its own emblem and parades in costume through the streets. In a courtyard set aside for the guest towns, the teams set up stalls with their local produce and wines: it is this exchange that, edition after edition, has made the Palio grow.
Where it comes from
A race won,
a festival born
It all began in 2000, when Enrico Salvetti’s team won the barrel race in Rovereto. The prize was the chance to host a weekend in their own town. The following year Uva e Dintorni was born, and with it the Palio di Avio.
From the second edition, teams from other Wine Towns began to arrive — Buttrio first — then Tuscany, Piedmont and Abruzzo, up to the fifteen towns of 2010.
The Barrel Palio is promoted by the Associazione Nazionale Città del Vino, the network of Italian wine-growing municipalities.