Groups

All newborns are welcomed into the Contrada with a letter and a bouquet of flowers, while a flag adorned with a pink or blue ribbon and a scroll announce the joyous event from the historic headquarters of the contrada in Piazza Matteotti. This marks the beginning of the little Dragaiole and Dragaioli’s lives, who are then guided through the first steps of their life in contrada by the men and women of the “Gruppo Giovani”. As they grow, the young Dragaiole and Dragaioli’s year is marked by various events. Some fixed, such as Epiphany, Carnival, and our Patron Saint Festival which brings their much anticipated baptism, which officially marks their entry into our contrada. Other important events are the days of the Palio, the summer camp, the Festival honouring the Madonna in December, the decoration of the Christmas tree, and of course the arrival of Santa Claus. These are just some of the various occasions that the “Gruppo Giovani” promotes throughout the year with the aim of fostering fun moments of that bring together the children in an inclusive environment accomodating everyone according to their needs. The primary objective, therefore, is to create a bond amongst these young people, which will accompany them throughout their lives and, through the transmission of the values of our contrada and of Siena as a whole, which will enable them to become the Dragaiole and Dragaioli of the future. This is the intent that drives our “Gruppo Giovani”, which follows and supports the children from birth until adolescence when they become “Novizi” and a new chapter in their lives opens. For further information, please contact the “Gruppo Giovani Dragaioli” at the following email address: giovani.contradadeldrago@gmail.com

The "Solidarity Commission" of the Contrada del Drago was set up in 2013-14 and originated from a strongly held and pursued idea, from the then Priore Laura Bonelli, with the intention of restoring the values on which the existence of the Contrada was always based: solidarity, mutual help, attention to needs, and a will to help each other. he Contrada del Drago, like a large family, must be always "be there", to identify needs (from economic emergencies, to solitude, to attention to children, and the elderly) and look for a way, the time, the people and, when needed , the economic resources, to resolve these problems. This Commission was conceived as a group of volunteers represented by those who keep the Contrada del Drago going with their dedication in their roles in the various Contrada offices and thus their service to the Contrada and its People. The first initiative of the newly established Commission was the creation of summer camps for the children of the Contrada del Drago, in the period immediately following the end of school where working parents can find themselves in difficulty. The summer camps took place in the beautiful green space of the Voltoni di San Domenico gardens based on the availability of many very young, young, less young Dragaioli to offer their time, together with professional educators, and provide a good service while keeping the cost low for families. The summer camps were immediately a great success, and have been repeated every year since 2014, also becoming a great opportunity to work with the children. Participation in the Coordination of the Solidarity/Mutual Aid Commissions of the other Contradas gave new stimuli to the Drago Commission and confirmed the need to analyze the needs and requirements of all the Contradas in depth to provide something useful to support everyone. Citizen solidarity initiatives were thus implemented involving all the Contradas together, particularly in the difficult period of the Covid pandemic, or in the face of needs expressed by the various Bodies, Institutions and Associations in Siena. The intent of the Solidarity Commission, together with the Priore who conceived it and the Priore who have followed since, has always been to be at hand to solve small and large problems together, as far as possible, always with the utmost confidentiality, making itself known by the Dragaioli and establishing a relationship of mutual trust. Various initiatives (market, dinners, tombolas, etc.) have been implemented over the years to finance any financial requests, and have demonstrated the active enthusiasm of the Contrada del Drago in supporting the initiatives and the Commission itself. The Solidarity Commission in the Contrada del Drago, later named after Andrea Muzzi (an ex-Rettore and ex-Priore on the Contrada), is one of the key Commissions of the Contrada and works in close contact and in agreement with the Priore.