“La Cavalcata Sarda" is an old cultural and folkloristic event that takes place in Sassari, usually on the third Sunday of May. It consists of a parade on foot, on horseback or on “traccas" (the characteristic floats decorated with flowers and everyday objects), of groups of people coming from every part of Sardinia.
The participants wear the typical costumes of the place of origin, often enriched by manicured embroidery and filigree jewellery.
The event continues in the afternoon in the hippodrome city where horses and riders perform daring acrobatic figures, for later closing the event in Piazza d’Italia with Sardinian traditional songs and dances, accompanied by the sound of “launeddas" and accordions.
The event that we can enjoy today was born in 1899 on the occasion of the visit of King Umberto I of Italy accompanied by his wife Queen Margherita of Savoy, who came to town for the inauguration of the monument to Vittorio Emanuele II that Giuseppe Sartorio had raised in Piazza d’Italia.