The amateur filmmaker Gustavo Buratti Zanchi records the Baìo of Sampeyre, one of the oldest popular festivals in the Western Alps. The procession involves hundreds of participants in vibrant traditional costumes, reenacting the expulsion of the Saracens from the Varaita Valley. The footage shows the Cavalìe with their adorned horses, the Sarazine and Segnurine with white dresses and handkerchiefs, the Tambourin keeping rhythm, the Sapeur armed with axes, and the Escarlinìe carrying maces decorated with ribbons and bells. The Grec, freed prisoners, and the Uzuart guards protecting the Alum (the commanders) can also be glimpsed. Closing the procession is the amusing duo of the Viéi and the Vieio (the old man and the old woman), panting and in modest attire, carrying a cradle with a child (doll) and a flask of wine, symbolizing both popular humor and the community’s continuity and hope. The lively and collective procession reflects a millennia-old tradition that intertwines history, ritual, and local identity.
The amateur filmmaker Gustavo Buratti Zanchi records the Baìo of Sampeyre, one of the oldest popular festivals in the Western Alps. The procession involves hundreds of participants in vibrant traditional costumes, reenacting the expulsion of the Saracens from the Varaita Valley. The footage shows the Cavalìe with their adorned horses, the Sarazine and Segnurine with white dresses and handkerchiefs, the Tambourin keeping rhythm, the Sapeur armed with axes, and the Escarlinìe carrying maces decorated with ribbons and bells. The Grec, freed prisoners, and the Uzuart guards protecting the Alum (the commanders) can also be glimpsed. Closing the procession is the amusing duo of the Viéi and the Vieio (the old man and the old woman), panting and in modest attire, carrying a cradle with a child (doll) and a flask of wine, symbolizing both popular humor and the community’s continuity and hope. The lively and collective procession reflects a millennia-old tradition that intertwines history, ritual, and local identity.