Italian carnival: top places to visit, curiosities and fun facts
The end of January is a typical period for a charming folk festival simply known as carnival. Very famous not only in Italy but as well in the rest of the world, carnevale is the synonym of happiness, joy and unavoidable craziness. Put a mask on and come with us on a discovery trip of the top Italian carnival cities.
The most popular is without any doubt Venice. The lagoon city every year hosts the Italian Carnival Par Excellence, established by the Venetian oligarchy as a concession to people and with the objective to amuse with no status, gender or religion distinctions, and mentioned for the first time as a public celebration in an edict by the Serenissima Republica’s Senate in 1296.
The Venice Carnival represents the unique and highly-appreciated festivity, famous everywhere on the globe for its magic atmosphere and program that for two weeks keeps busy visitors who have a chance to watch and take part in the numerous events and displays. Very popular, as it was the case in the past, private parties and masquerade balls that take place in Venice’s grand noble palaces where time seems to stand still. Behind the walls, curious guests relive the ancient splendor of the Carnival golden ages.
The 2013 edition of the most charming festival, with a symbolic title “Live in Color”, paid homage to the big artists like Tiziano, Giorgione who refined the art of in-color painting just in the lagoon city. Every night in the Piazza San Marco there was a concert, with a different color theme and music style. Purple, combined with rain, gave inspiration to the homonymous event dedicated to ‘80’s; yellow, with inevitable submarine, was chosen to pay homage to the Beatles, while black, together with back, was selected for a night with soul music from the ’70.
In two weeks, from 26th January until 12th of February, visitors and locals enjoyed the numerous cultural, not only music, events. The Carnival was opened with a traditional Festa Veneziana, this year renewed with a special addition: the concert in the old Venetian music style called “Lagunaria”. The French theatre company Ilotopie offered to spectators the amazing and very special aquatic show “MetaMorPhosiS Aquaticae , the mix of culture and fun. Could not miss the traditional water parade starting from Punta della Dogana and sailing along the Canal Grande to the folkloristic Cannaregio district.
The highlights of Venice Carnival are for sure the Best Masked Costume Contest, occurring throughout the festival at the Gran Teatro of St. Mark Square, and the famous “flights”, that mostly excite tourists and not only them. The competitors for the best mask and costume parade on stage while exhibiting their best costumes, and often are joined by the street artists and traditional dancers who make the atmosphere of contest even more attractive.
The traditional “flight of Angel” has its roots in the Serenessima period. It is said that an unknown guest of Venice, assumed to be a Turk, flied along a rope from San Marco bell tower to the middle of the square, offering homage to the Dodge. For the speed and easiness he did ascend, as he was using wings, the performance was named the Flight of the Angel, also called the Flight of the Turk. In 1759 the flight ended in a tragedy and it became prohibited. The man was substituted with a dove. In 2001 the Flight of the Angel was resumed and became popular again.
This year the Angel flight was performed on 3rd February by a student Marta Finotto who, dressed in a costume “Mouline Rouge”, descended the rope from the Bell Tower of the St. Mark Basilica, followed by the joyous shouts from the crowd, more than 70,000 people, gathered below. Other popular performance, the “flight of Eagle” took place on 10th February and it was enacted by Francesca Piccinini, the handball champion. In the afternoon of the closing day, 12thFebruary, it was the turn of the Flight of the Lion, or better the flight of a painted large canvas with the symbol of Venice, while a traditional Venetian choir was singing the San Marco anthem. To say good-bye to the Carnival 2013, the event of the “Vogata del silenzio”, a water parade with boats and gondolas floating along the Canal Grande, from Rialto to San Marco, lit only with candles.
The other interesting and popular carnival city is Viareggio, which hosts the colorful festival of masks, costumes and amazing floats on 3rd, 10th, 12th and 17th February and 3rd March. With a tradition that goes on for centuries, from 1873 when the rich burghers decided to masquerade in a sign of protest against high taxes, the Carnival of Viareggio is a must for everyone in love with the great paper construction inspired both by reality and fantasy.
Viareggio carnival’s peculiarity consists in giant, allegorical papier-maché floats that might overweight forty tons each. The enormous and colorful constructions evoke ancient triumphs and war-victory feastings from the Renaissance period and represent a pride of Viareggio traditions. The floats are product of the unique creativity and art expression of the greatest Viareggio “magicians”, well known all over the world. The parades of papier – maché floats, also considered to be real traveling theatres, take places in a ring-like circuit 2 km long on the seaside avenues of Viareggio, best known as La Passeggiata. The floats move among the spectators who have the extraordinary opportunity to attend shows with no barriers, and to become at the same time the protagonists of the colorful parade.
From Viareggio we are moving to Cento, a town in the province of Ferrara, famous, guess for what? Carnival! The Cento carnival is a well-known abroad and is one of the rare events that can praise to have historical origins, as it is evidenced by a fresco painted in the year 1615 by native of Cento, Gian Francesco Barbieri, known also with the name of Guercino. One of the local masks, called “il Belingaccio”, depicts the fresco and brings it to life during the carnival festivities.
The Carnival of Cento has maintained its historical connotations, present even today, although it was transformed, due to the twinning with the Carnival of Rio de Janeiro in 1993, into a very important folkloristic festivity famous for the allegorical floats inspired by the Sambadrome or exhibition court in Rio de Janeiro.
The 2013 edition of Cento carnival started on 10th February and will go on for three consecutive Sundays: 17th, 24th February and 3rd March. On each Sunday the float parades begin in the early afternoon and traverse the historical center several times followed by music and dancing figures in masks.
One of the main characteristics of Cento’s Carnival is the launching of inflatable and plash objects, locals call them gettito, during the parade. On every Sunday there is the ranking and award ceremony for costumes, entertainment and music, and for the best gettito. On the closing day, during the last parade, the local mask called “Tasi” is burned at the stake, contemporary with the fireworks. Prior to the burning event, the will of Tasi, in which his possessions are given to Cento’s most famous citizens, is read in the local dialect.
We are ending our virtual carnival trip in Sciacca, beautiful Sicilian town famed for its colorful and the most beautiful carnival in the region, held this year from 16th to 21th February. With its colorful costumes and magical decorated floats, the Carnival of Sciacca is an important testimony to Sicily’s rich cultural heritage. Twinned with the Carnival of Salvador de Bahia, the Sciacca carnival has around 200,000 visitors each year.
It was the historian Ciaccio who for the first time in 1890 mentions the Carnival of Sciacca as allegorical play. However, it is more likely that the roots of the famous Sicilian festivity go back to the Roman times, precisely in the period of Saturnalia festival during which the king of Saturnalia was sacrificed the last night, as happens at present with local mask Peppi Nnappa.
With the most probability the real origin of the Sciacca carnival goes back 1616, when the viceroy Ossuna established that everyone had to wear masks on the last day of carnival celebration. Today Carnival represents, for the town of Sciacca and its citizens, allegorical – satirical moments when the people of the place can play as they want with their fantasy.
The Carnival of Sciacca starts on Thursday before Lent with a symbolic handling of the city keys to the king of the Carnival, already mentioned Peppi Nnappa, a character adapted from Saccensi as local mask that opens and closes the festival. At the end of carnival, on Shrove Tuesday, his wagon gets burned in the square. The departure of the procession of floats is from the Friscia Square, headed the wagon of Peppi Nnappa, who distributes to the visitors every day of carnival wine and sausages prepared on the grill.
The Carnival of Sciacca is very famous all around the globe. People from different corners of the world flock to the Sicilian town to watch this fantastic parade of giant colorful characters, many of them represent well-known politicians and celebrities in Italy, on papier – maché floats often bigger than the buildings in surroundings.
Carnival in Italy is special, colorful and above all fun. Venice, Viareggio, Centa or Sciacca, the choice is vast. Important is to have great time, the location is irrelevant. Italian Carnival is famous for its beauty and uniqueness and you should try, at least once in your life, to live the most magic experience you will remember for a lifetime.
©2013 Emina Ristovic Italian Heritage Magazine
The most popular is without any doubt Venice. The lagoon city every year hosts the Italian Carnival Par Excellence, established by the Venetian oligarchy as a concession to people and with the objective to amuse with no status, gender or religion distinctions, and mentioned for the first time as a public celebration in an edict by the Serenissima Republica’s Senate in 1296.
The Venice Carnival represents the unique and highly-appreciated festivity, famous everywhere on the globe for its magic atmosphere and program that for two weeks keeps busy visitors who have a chance to watch and take part in the numerous events and displays. Very popular, as it was the case in the past, private parties and masquerade balls that take place in Venice’s grand noble palaces where time seems to stand still. Behind the walls, curious guests relive the ancient splendor of the Carnival golden ages.
The 2013 edition of the most charming festival, with a symbolic title “Live in Color”, paid homage to the big artists like Tiziano, Giorgione who refined the art of in-color painting just in the lagoon city. Every night in the Piazza San Marco there was a concert, with a different color theme and music style. Purple, combined with rain, gave inspiration to the homonymous event dedicated to ‘80’s; yellow, with inevitable submarine, was chosen to pay homage to the Beatles, while black, together with back, was selected for a night with soul music from the ’70.
In two weeks, from 26th January until 12th of February, visitors and locals enjoyed the numerous cultural, not only music, events. The Carnival was opened with a traditional Festa Veneziana, this year renewed with a special addition: the concert in the old Venetian music style called “Lagunaria”. The French theatre company Ilotopie offered to spectators the amazing and very special aquatic show “MetaMorPhosiS Aquaticae , the mix of culture and fun. Could not miss the traditional water parade starting from Punta della Dogana and sailing along the Canal Grande to the folkloristic Cannaregio district.
The highlights of Venice Carnival are for sure the Best Masked Costume Contest, occurring throughout the festival at the Gran Teatro of St. Mark Square, and the famous “flights”, that mostly excite tourists and not only them. The competitors for the best mask and costume parade on stage while exhibiting their best costumes, and often are joined by the street artists and traditional dancers who make the atmosphere of contest even more attractive.
The traditional “flight of Angel” has its roots in the Serenessima period. It is said that an unknown guest of Venice, assumed to be a Turk, flied along a rope from San Marco bell tower to the middle of the square, offering homage to the Dodge. For the speed and easiness he did ascend, as he was using wings, the performance was named the Flight of the Angel, also called the Flight of the Turk. In 1759 the flight ended in a tragedy and it became prohibited. The man was substituted with a dove. In 2001 the Flight of the Angel was resumed and became popular again.
This year the Angel flight was performed on 3rd February by a student Marta Finotto who, dressed in a costume “Mouline Rouge”, descended the rope from the Bell Tower of the St. Mark Basilica, followed by the joyous shouts from the crowd, more than 70,000 people, gathered below. Other popular performance, the “flight of Eagle” took place on 10th February and it was enacted by Francesca Piccinini, the handball champion. In the afternoon of the closing day, 12thFebruary, it was the turn of the Flight of the Lion, or better the flight of a painted large canvas with the symbol of Venice, while a traditional Venetian choir was singing the San Marco anthem. To say good-bye to the Carnival 2013, the event of the “Vogata del silenzio”, a water parade with boats and gondolas floating along the Canal Grande, from Rialto to San Marco, lit only with candles.
The other interesting and popular carnival city is Viareggio, which hosts the colorful festival of masks, costumes and amazing floats on 3rd, 10th, 12th and 17th February and 3rd March. With a tradition that goes on for centuries, from 1873 when the rich burghers decided to masquerade in a sign of protest against high taxes, the Carnival of Viareggio is a must for everyone in love with the great paper construction inspired both by reality and fantasy.
Viareggio carnival’s peculiarity consists in giant, allegorical papier-maché floats that might overweight forty tons each. The enormous and colorful constructions evoke ancient triumphs and war-victory feastings from the Renaissance period and represent a pride of Viareggio traditions. The floats are product of the unique creativity and art expression of the greatest Viareggio “magicians”, well known all over the world. The parades of papier – maché floats, also considered to be real traveling theatres, take places in a ring-like circuit 2 km long on the seaside avenues of Viareggio, best known as La Passeggiata. The floats move among the spectators who have the extraordinary opportunity to attend shows with no barriers, and to become at the same time the protagonists of the colorful parade.
From Viareggio we are moving to Cento, a town in the province of Ferrara, famous, guess for what? Carnival! The Cento carnival is a well-known abroad and is one of the rare events that can praise to have historical origins, as it is evidenced by a fresco painted in the year 1615 by native of Cento, Gian Francesco Barbieri, known also with the name of Guercino. One of the local masks, called “il Belingaccio”, depicts the fresco and brings it to life during the carnival festivities.
The Carnival of Cento has maintained its historical connotations, present even today, although it was transformed, due to the twinning with the Carnival of Rio de Janeiro in 1993, into a very important folkloristic festivity famous for the allegorical floats inspired by the Sambadrome or exhibition court in Rio de Janeiro.
The 2013 edition of Cento carnival started on 10th February and will go on for three consecutive Sundays: 17th, 24th February and 3rd March. On each Sunday the float parades begin in the early afternoon and traverse the historical center several times followed by music and dancing figures in masks.
One of the main characteristics of Cento’s Carnival is the launching of inflatable and plash objects, locals call them gettito, during the parade. On every Sunday there is the ranking and award ceremony for costumes, entertainment and music, and for the best gettito. On the closing day, during the last parade, the local mask called “Tasi” is burned at the stake, contemporary with the fireworks. Prior to the burning event, the will of Tasi, in which his possessions are given to Cento’s most famous citizens, is read in the local dialect.
We are ending our virtual carnival trip in Sciacca, beautiful Sicilian town famed for its colorful and the most beautiful carnival in the region, held this year from 16th to 21th February. With its colorful costumes and magical decorated floats, the Carnival of Sciacca is an important testimony to Sicily’s rich cultural heritage. Twinned with the Carnival of Salvador de Bahia, the Sciacca carnival has around 200,000 visitors each year.
It was the historian Ciaccio who for the first time in 1890 mentions the Carnival of Sciacca as allegorical play. However, it is more likely that the roots of the famous Sicilian festivity go back to the Roman times, precisely in the period of Saturnalia festival during which the king of Saturnalia was sacrificed the last night, as happens at present with local mask Peppi Nnappa.
With the most probability the real origin of the Sciacca carnival goes back 1616, when the viceroy Ossuna established that everyone had to wear masks on the last day of carnival celebration. Today Carnival represents, for the town of Sciacca and its citizens, allegorical – satirical moments when the people of the place can play as they want with their fantasy.
The Carnival of Sciacca starts on Thursday before Lent with a symbolic handling of the city keys to the king of the Carnival, already mentioned Peppi Nnappa, a character adapted from Saccensi as local mask that opens and closes the festival. At the end of carnival, on Shrove Tuesday, his wagon gets burned in the square. The departure of the procession of floats is from the Friscia Square, headed the wagon of Peppi Nnappa, who distributes to the visitors every day of carnival wine and sausages prepared on the grill.
The Carnival of Sciacca is very famous all around the globe. People from different corners of the world flock to the Sicilian town to watch this fantastic parade of giant colorful characters, many of them represent well-known politicians and celebrities in Italy, on papier – maché floats often bigger than the buildings in surroundings.
Carnival in Italy is special, colorful and above all fun. Venice, Viareggio, Centa or Sciacca, the choice is vast. Important is to have great time, the location is irrelevant. Italian Carnival is famous for its beauty and uniqueness and you should try, at least once in your life, to live the most magic experience you will remember for a lifetime.
©2013 Emina Ristovic Italian Heritage Magazine