Wild racing, wild parties and wild boar: Why no one sleeps in Italy’s Mugello

Mugello, Italy —

It is a sultry Friday night in high summer on a rolling, cypress tree-lined hillside near the little town of Scarperia e San Piero, in the heart of Italy’s Tuscany region. A bearded man in red fishnet tights and a matching vinyl minidress sways with a beer can in one hand and a smile on his face.

Behind him, beside a rainbow-colored paddling pool, another man in a tank top and shorts wields something that looks like a chainsaw crossed with a trumpet, which he revs and waves around.

Around them, disco lights spill out from beneath a motorhome, piercing the haze from flares and exhaust fumes. A procession of people glides by, some on foot, others riding motorcycles of every shape and size. Music booms out into the night air, blending with the incessant roar of engines