Great Gatherings

Great Gatherings looks at rituals that bring people together in huge numbers, and explores how these incredible ceremonies keep communities alive and help us to reinforce our own identity by joining the crowd. These rituals bind us together, whether as part of a cheering football crowd or standing silent on Armistice Day. By sharing our experiences with thousands or millions of people, rituals can make us feel part of something greater than ourselves.

Siena in Italy is a walled, medieval city divided into 17 districts. For centuries these neighbourhoods have settled their rivalries in a ritual horserace, the Palio. Avio Tanganelli is fiercely loyal to his district Giraffa, and epitomises the Sienese passion for the Palio. For him, 'the Palio is war'. The tension mounts for Avio as each district is allotted its horse, and its form is tested over a series of trial races. On race day, the horse is ritually blessed in the local chapel, before it is led in great ceremony to the central square. Finally, the jockeys push and jostle to line up for this three-lap, 70-second race.

In Peru, communities aren't divided by rivalry but by the vast Andes mountains. To the people of this region, the annual festival of Qoyllur Rit'I is hugely important, bringing together eight regional clans for the highest mass ritual on Earth. The pilgrims hike to 4,800m to perform rituals from Inca times, now mixed with Catholicism. Each clan dances for the others to reinforce their shared Andean culture. For the dance of the llama, herders they wear llama skins and knitted balaclavas to resemble the llama's head, while others from the lowland rainforest have costumes of vivid colours and tropical bird feathers. For some, Qoyllur Rit'i is a chance to really commit to their clan.

For Sam Vivero to become a guardian of his clan's traditions, he must submit to a painful initiation. At dawn, by a sacred Inca glacier, he is whipped three times by the clan chief. For Sam, it is a ritual of self-discovery, and for the clans, it is a ritual of unity and brotherhood, as they stream down from the glacier and return to their scattered villages across the mountains.