Your next Carnival destination- Italy
Carnival is a magical time of the year, especially when you know where to go! In Italy, carnival is widely celebrated and varies from city to city. Tourists come from all over the world just to join the party.
The Venice carnival is the most famed one for its traditional venetian masks! Another one is the Ivrea carnival, in Piedmont, which has been going on since 1808. This one is very traditional with costumes and celebrations, and in fact all participants must wear a red cap. On the other hand if you’re more into horse races, then Ronciglione carnival, in Lazio, is for you.
The must-see, however, is the second most-known carnival in Italy: Viareggio’s carnival, in Tuscany.
Two IE students that took the trip said– ‘There was this smell of incoming spring all around and I felt like part of a community’. This carnival has been running for more than 140 years, right next to the beach and is even broadcasted on national television. It usually lasts for five weeks, every Sunday.
The most impacting aspect of this carnival is the satire represented on the various wagons. The wagons come in three different categories and the first ones are 10 meters tall. Most parts of them are moved manually by people inside them, and they are mainly made of newspaper, glue, paint and wood and just a bit of metal to sustain them. This event is planned all year long, and citizens of the city all participate in the parade. They choose a wagon to join, learn the official choreography to perform in the street in front of the wagon and dress up according to the theme. Each wagon even has an official song every year. And every year they come up with new topics and ideas to amaze people with. This year the hot topics were Kim Jong Un, of course accompanied by Trump, Putin, Xi Jinping and Italian politic(ian)s. The wagon that won this edition represented a skeleton holding a Hitler mask and surrounded by poppies, the flower of war.
If politics is not your thing there’s even satire about climate change, smoking, adventures and more. Millions of tourists come, some even dress up, and the city transforms into a magical, timeless wonderland.
Usually the parades are on Sunday or Saturdays only, with the exception of Mardi Gras, and last from 3 to 6 pm. The ticket is 20 euros. But if you plan on staying more than just a day, every night from Thursday to Sunday, the old and the young that love carnival go to the street parties, no ticket needed. They are held each week in a different neighbourhood to celebrate the whole city, to dance, drink, have fun and revel in the atmosphere of the city. After the street parties, around midnight, everyone moves to the Darsena to keep on dancing until dawn. Four days a week for five weeks, it’s no joke.
This is peak tourist season, and there’s plenty of hostels, hotels and restaurants as all these places are expecting large numbers. If you like to experience new things, party, and enjoy life, you should’ve already noted this trip on your wish list for next year!
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