Saint Ubaldo Day

It is also celebrated in the American town of Jessup, Pennsylvania The eve of his death anniversary, May 15, is marked in Gubbio by a procession known as Corsa dei Ceri.

The event in Gubbio is bigger in many ways: a longer course, more participants and thousands more spectators, and a higher level of excitement and intensity.

[2] The borough of Jessup, a suburb of Scranton, organized and presented to the Luzerne County court for incorporation in December, 1876, grew in subsequent decades along with the anthracite coal industry.

During the Alzata, three "stanga" (the H-shaped platforms to be placed upon teams' shoulders) are stood vertically as the large "ceri" (the pedestals) are fastened into them perpendicularly with wooden pegs.

The saints' statues are affixed after "capodieci" (team captains) climb atop the cross-members, where they bless the structures with holy water from "brocca", ceramic vases sent directly from Gubbio.

It begins in the uptown section of Jessup and winds its way through residential blocks before reaching the Church Street business district.

Saint Ubaldo always "wins", though George and Anthony can gain favor by having their ceri removed more swiftly as teams lay the stanga at rest and hammer the wooden pegs out.