Around the world, July’s got a handful of events that are on the unique side of idiosyncratic. There’s the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, the Calgary Stampede, and – one of HostelBloggers’ favorites – the Moon Amtrak day.

But few worldwide events – now, or at any time of the year – can hold a candle to the Palio di Siena for the sheer insanity of it all.

It’s a bit of a wolf in sheep’s clothing of an event, really. Ostensibly, it’s an historic horse race, complete with lashings of pageantry, pomp and show; then the race starts… and all hell breaks loose, as riders and horses charge round the Piazza del Campo at breakneck speed leaving a mass of twisted bodies (human and equine) in their wake.

The Palio di Siena is just one of various other palios across the country. But for the real deal, backpackers in Italy over the summer should drop everything and make for Siena on the 16th August, when, believe it or not, they carry out the whole crazy spectacle again!