Corsa dei Camerieri, The Waiter's Race

Though I don't usually follow the local news in Caltanissetta, today it caught my attention. The TV is usually left on whenever we eat lunch with AmoreMio's family, for background noise more than anything else, but everyone stopped eating and looked up when this scene suddenly appeared: dozens of waiters holding serving platters filled with glasses of water... running up and down one of the main streets of Caltanissetta. 

After a pause of 15 years, the Corsa dei Camerieri had recommenced. Papa' says that the race in Caltanissetta originated in the 60s or 70s, but I also found the above picture from 1934 in Modena. Waiters are given serving platters containing a pitcher and two glasses filled with water (or another drink), which they must then run with for the entire length of the race. They may only use one hand to support the platter (no switching hands) and if so much as a drop spills, they are disqualified. So if you walk slowly to ensure the safety of the water, you're arm might just fall off before you manage to finish.



They explained on the news that the sudden renewal of the race was in honor of a recently deceased gentleman, who had been an important figure in the waiter/barman community of Caltanissetta.