By SARAH KINGSBURY - Staff Writer
Oroville Mercury Register
10/01/2006

Artoberfest kicked off Saturday with the Chico Palio -- racing horses instead of humans.

This year marks the second for Artoberfest and the first for the palio -- an opening event planned to be an annual tradition.

"We needed a signature kickoff event," said Debra Lucero, director of Artoberfest. "We wanted something different and fun."

In Italy, palio is the word given to an annual athletic contest, usually combining aspects of community and culture.

The idea for the event was the brainchild of Ed McLaughlin -- a member of the Chico Arts Commission -- after his visit to Siena, Italy.

The famed Siena Palio horse race in Italy was used as a model for the event in the parking lot of Chico City Hall, with horses being replaced by human runners carrying horse-themed creations on an eight-foot dowel.

The "horses" took to the parking lot in a mad, one-lap dash won by the runners representing the Northern California Natural History Museum.

"We weren't very surprised because we have a very strong horse," joked board member Jessee Allread, adding that the horse runners were both successful track runners in high school.

"This is great for the city, because this event is going to grow, grow, grow," said Allread.

For next year, Lucero said she plans to expand the palio with more competitors and the colorful flag drills that are common in the Siena Palio.

Ten different community groups designed silk flags for this year's palio, representing different symbols of Chico culture, such as One Mile Recreation Area, the Hooker Oak tree and raccoons.

"Considering none of us knew how to paint on silk, the flags turned out incredibly well," said Paula Busch, an eight-year member of the Arts Commission.

Busch -- the artist behind The Esplanade flag -- had never painted on silk before the event.

"It has tons of little mistakes in it, but they're hard to see," she said.

A group of nine neighbors heard about the event and joined forces to represent the kinetic art of The Esplanade in the horse race, finishing seventh.

"We were going for style points," joked Bill Lerch, who ran the palio with his neighbor, Bill Iha.

The Esplanade horse "Paliodrome" featured two identical heads on each end of its body, an artistic nod to palindromes -- a word that reads the same forward or backwards.

The kickoff celebration also featured a hip-hop dance troupe, theater previews, a Stilson Canyon horse photography exhibit and children's horse artwork.

Staff writer Sarah Kingsbury can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

View video from this year's Chico Palio (requires Flash)