Fiolet

Fiolet requires simple equipment : a large, smooth and rounded stone (the "pira"), an oval pall covered in nails (the "fiolet") and a stick called "èima" or "maciocca", with larger ends to hit the "fiolet" better. The playing field is triangular in shape and is 150 metres long. On the ground, starting from the stone where the fiolet is pitched, there are concentric semi-circles, distanced 15 metres apart; the "paline" (rods marked with consecutive numbers) allow points for each pitch to be counted. The player rests the fiolet on the rock, striking gently on the "beak" to fling it into the air, striking it again in in mid air, and hitting it as far away as possible. Each team has five players; each player has thirty strikes.

The first Fiolet championship was held in 1953, however even before that it was played at the foot of the Valdostane mountains, such as Cervino and Mount Blanc, and in the centre of Aosta; Germano Cheillon of Allein, class of 1873, said: “Fiolet was already being played towards the end of the last century, among peers and those much, much older than me”. Today, the championship final is held in Brissogne, on the 1st of May; the winner is awarded the Batôn d’Or. It is played in spring, in the open countryside, as soon as the snow melts and before the first blades of grass appear, which are grazed by the Valdostane cattle.