It takes place the second-last Sunday of May.  It doesn't have a religious connotation as all of the other Sardinian festivals do.  The event was celebrated for the first time the 20th of April 1899, when King Humbert I and Queen Margaret of Savoy went to Sassari to unveil King Victor Emanuel II's monument situated in Piazza D'Italia.  That day, a spectacular cavalcade took place with three thousand horsemen from all over the province wearing their traditional costumes.
In the 1929, the cavalcade took place for the second time, to celebrate Victor Emanuel III and Queen Helen's arrival in Sassari.
Ten years later, the last cavalcade in honour of the Piedmont Royal Family took place in the presence of the Crowned Prince Humbert and his wife Mary Josи.  Between 1940 and 1950 no other cavalcades took place.
In 1951, the Sardinian Cavalcade took place in occasion of the XV National Conference of the Rotary Club.  The event was such a success that it was decided to propose it again in the following years.  The centenary celebration of 1999 was particularly successful.
The Sardinian Cavalcade in not just a pageant of three thousand people, it's also an exceptional and joyful meeting of people coming from all over the island, with their similar but also very different traditions.  They animate the streets with colour and the preciousness of their costumes and decorations, like a magic kaleidoscopic.  The event includes horse shows requiring undeniable abilities such as parezzas, pariglie and ardia.  The celebrations go on through the night when Sardinian poetry competitions, chants, typical traditional sounds and dances all take place.