Carnival in Italy means the Viareggio Carnival, which is satirical and popular, and Venice Carnival, which is medieval and refined.

However, up and down the country there are events and traditions to celebrate this period which occurs immediately before Lent.

Viareggio
Venice
Aosta Valley
Piedmont
Sardinia
Friuli Venezia Giulia

Viareggio Carnival

Viareggio prepares for this event months and months in advance. It attracts more than one million people each year who gather on the town’s 2km promenade to witness the magic of the great parades of papier- maché floats. The floats are real spectacles and can reach up to 20 metres in height.

The parades include folkloric bands and performers with the most original masks, offering excitement, culture and tradition in a wide programme of entertainment and fun for children and adults.

They run every Sunday from 31st January to 21st February.

And when the sun goes down, the local quarters of Viareggio prepare night-time celebrations (from 6pm to midnight) with food, drinks and music during the entire Carnival period.

For more details visit www.ilcarnevale.com

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Venice Carnival

In medieval times when Venice was a republic, Carnival lasted from 26th December until the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday and drew people from across the continent.
                  
However, as well as playing a key role during Carnival, masks were also part of the day-to-day social life of Venetians and people wore them for six months of the year: at parties, official visits, theatres and in private gambling rooms.

Man and women of a certain class and status wore the bauta, consisting of a black hood and a white mask. When the Republic ended in 1797 all masks were banned (possibly because people wearing them had immunity from arrest!). After almost two centuries the carnival was reborn again in the 1980s as a popular street festival.

This year, each area of Venice has been divided in sectors, with food stands, cookery lessons, perfumes etc.

Every weekend there will be parades and music. On Sunday 7th February there will be the regatta (with 100 boats and 500 oarsmen) and more events night and day.

The Carnival in Venice runs from 5th to 16th February.
For more information, visit www.carnivalofVenice.com

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Aosta Valley Carnival

If you happen to be in Aosta Valley, perhaps skiing on the gorgeous slopes of the Italian Alps, it would be a shame to miss the area’s most unusual event.

Between 9th January and 16th February, you will be able to admire processions – inspired by the uniforms of Napoleon's soldiers as they marched through here in May 1800 – in which people don colourful masks to parade through the villages of the Gran San Bernardo Valley.

The most important and spectacular show is in Saint Rhémy en Bosses, 20 minutes north of Aosta. People in the procession wear the landzette (bizarre clothes and hats adorned with beads, sequins and small mirrors in ironic homage to the Napoleonic army). The faces are covered by wooden masks and they carry the hair of horse's tail to banish evil spirits.

For more information and to check in what villages the parades will take place, visit www.gransanbernardo.net

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Piedmont Carnival

Famous carnival in Ivrea with medieval origins.

Every day in the town from 13th to 16th February you will be able to assist in historic parades and bonfires. But the highlights of the event are the Battles of the Oranges, which commemorate the rebellion of the people against a tyrant who ruled the town in the Middle Ages. During the carnival the streets are lit up and filled with the scent of oranges.

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Sardinia Carnival

In the heart of Sardinia, a carnival starts from 16th January with the lighting of fires in honour of Saint Anthony.

The highlights of the event, which runs up to 16th February, are the Mamuthones and Issohadores, in which dancers in groups of 12 wear large scary masks and large bells to dance around bonfires. This is a pagan ritual dating from ancient times whose precise origins and meaning have been lost down the centuries.

 

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Friuli Venezia Giulia Carnival

This is one of the most ancient celebrations of its kind in the entire Alpine area.
It takes place on 13th February in Sauris and features two main protagonists, the Kheirar and the Rolar.
The first, with his face hidden behind a wooden mask, represents the king of masks and he has the duty of ensuring that the celebrations go exactly as they should.
He is clothed in rags and goes around the village with an old broom, which he uses to bang on doors to be let in.
The second character, a magical and demonic one with a sooty face and also armed with a broom, informs the people present that the moment has arrived to begin the celebrations. His name derives from the rolelan, the bells hanging from his belt which he shakes continuously.

The two figures go along the streets of Sauris followed by a masked procession in which the participants all wear wooden masks that have features that are either beautiful (scheana) or ugly (schentana).

The Kheirar then bangs his broom on the doors of the houses and, once he is inside, begins to sweep the floor and let in the masked couples, one at a time, who start to perform old dances.

As the evening approaches, there is a spectacular parade in the woods lit by torches. Several refreshment booths with typical products and music are available to visitors under a heated marquee in the main piazza.

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