For many girls, "her girls," she was a master of needles and threads. She taught them how to perfectly sew the camellia over the head of the race's heart, on the veil, before his royal ride. How to flawlessly transform the knight into the componidori. The Sartiglia is mourning the death of Patrizia Pala, a historic housewife who dressed the head of the race, one of the protagonists of the Oristano joust. She passed away last night after a long illness that had given her no respite in recent years. But she always faced it with a smile and the will to succeed at all costs.
Patrizia Pala is survived by her husband, Carlo Pala, known to all as Carletto, president of the Sartiglia Committee, member of the Farmers' Guild, and former componidori, and her beloved son, Marcello. A Massaiedda for the first time in 1973 and a Massaia Manna fourteen times, in 2023 Patrizia Pala received the Camelia Award, the annual recognition established by the Infinite Knight's Guild and the Order of the Camelia to celebrate women who actively and passionately participate in the Sartiglia of Oristano.
"It's always an abstract, powerful emotion," Patrizia always said when talking about the dressing ritual. For her, everything had to be perfect, even the smiles of the two girls chosen to transform the knight. During the ritual, she never stopped moving, scrutinizing the knight from every corner of the room, encouraging the girls busy dressing. When she spoke about the Joust, her face lit up. In recent hours, she has received countless messages on social media, so many kind words. From friends and from the many knights she has had the honor of transforming into componidori.
According to Tonino Falconi, president of the Oristano Foundation, "with Patrizia we lose a woman who made the Sartiglia an important part of her life, a protagonist of its history and a passionate guardian of its traditions. Her memory will live on in the memories of those who shared the journey of the equestrian joust with her and in the great Sartiglia family."
Her journey in the equestrian joust began in 1973, when, at just fourteen, she first donned the role of Massaiedda. It was the Carnival where Annadina Cozzoli was the Componidori. From then on, Patrizia held that role for ten more editions, until 1983, before becoming Massaia Manna, a role she would hold a total of fourteen times.
Her personal and family history has been constantly intertwined with that of the Sartiglia. In 1978, while attending the dressing of the Componidori, she was struck by the figure of the knight. That Componidori was Carlo Pala, then nineteen, who would become her husband and is now president of the Sartiglia Committee.