The Ceri Race Festival 2008 and the competition of the Crossbow of Gubbio are traditions of great importance in the panorama of the regional events under the folkloric point of view as well as the strictly historic one.

Both events have been organized without any interruption since the last years of the XIIth century; every year, on 15th May, the streets of Gubbio are full of colors, with thousands of Gubbio citizens leading the three Candles, weighting each one more than 4 quintals, in an exalting race from the city to the Basilica of St. Ubaldo, through the medieval streets and up on the hill for a dip of more than 300 m.
The belonging to the Candle is a very important fact in the life of a Gubbio citizen, it is a sort of qualifying emblem linked to the kind of job that in past was passing from father to son from a generation to the other.
The colors of the uniforms of the "ceraiole" (candle holders) are linked to the cloths of the protecting Saint of the corporations: yellow for the "ceraioli" of St. Ubaldo, blue for those of St. Giorgio and black for those of St Antonio.
These manifestations, unique of that kind, in addition to attracting thousands of persons, are also the testimony of a secular tradition that has always unified the entire Gubbio population; this is the confirmation of an authentic devotion for the Saints of the antique corporations of the mason bricklayers, traders and farmers. The remembrance of this event is so important inside the region that the "Ceri" are nowadays the institutional symbol of Umbria.
In the "Piazza Grande", the last Sunday of May the "balestrieri" (crossbow competitors) are challenging their Tuscan colleagues of Sansepolcro in an antique competition of shooting. The entire city of Gubbio lives in a suggestive medieval atmosphere with the dressed exhibitions, the demonstrations of the "sbandieratori" and the caves opened to hosts.
The participants to the competition are wearing the antique historic dress and are judged in the competition by the console, of the "connestabile", and by the authorities, obviously dressed themselves. Both Competitions have survived without changing through the centuries because they have demonstrated a profound attachment to the soul of the city, giving testimony of a very antique use still sign of a real aggregation with the community.