Carnival in Italy plays a very important role in Italian folklore, traditionally linked to regional masks, and is celebrated in many cities, some of which are known throughout the world for the special celebrations they organize for this occasion. It is a farewell party to eat, drink, and have fun before the limitations and solemnity of Lent. About a month before Ash Wednesday, Italians celebrate over many weekends with parades, masks, and confetti. The most famous Carnivals in Italy are those held in Venice, Viareggio, Ivrea, Cento, Putignano, Acireale and Sciacca. These Carnivals include masquerades and parades.
The Carnival in Venice was first documented in 1296, with a proclamation by the Venetian Senate announcing a public festival the day before the start of Lent. Today, about 3 million people travel to Venice to take part in the famous Carnival. The Carnival of Viareggio is the second-most popular in Italy. The first Carnival of Viareggio parade was held in 1873. Every year, the Carnival of Viareggio attracts more than 500,000 spectators. The Carnival of Ivrea is famous for its "Battle of the Oranges" fought with fruit between the people on foot and the troops of the tyrant on carts, to remember the wars of the Middle Ages, allegory of struggle for freedom. It is the largest food fight in Italy and surrounding countries. Regarding the origins, a popular account has it that the battle commemorates the city's defiance against the city's tyrant, who is either a member of the Ranieri family or a conflation of the 12th-century and the 13th-century Marquis William VII of Montferrat. The Ambrosian carnival is widespread in the most part of the Archdiocese of Milan, where the Ambrosian Rite is observed, and in this area the Carnival ends on the first Sunday of Lent; the last day of Carnival is Saturday, 4 days after the Tuesday on which it ends where the Roman Rite is observed.
In Sardinia, the Carnival (in Sardinian language Carrasecare or Carrasegare) varies greatly from the one in the mainland of Italy. the majority of the Sardinian celebrations features not only feasts and parades but also crude fertility rites such as bloodsheds to fertilize the land, the death and the resurrection of the Carnival characters and representations of violence and torture. The typical characters of the Sardinian Carnival are zoomorphic and/or androgynous, such as the Mamuthones and Issohadores from Mamoiada, the Boes and Merdules from Ottana and many more. The Carnival is celebrated with street performances that are typically accompanied by Sardinian dirges called , meaning literally "cry of a baby when the mother does not want to nurse him/her anymore" (from the word titta meaning breasts). Other particular and important Carnival instances in Sardinia are the Sartiglia in Oristano and the Tempio Pausania Carnival.
History
The origins of this event in Italy may be traced to ancient Greece and Rome, when they worshipped Bacchus and Saturn. Some think they date back to archaic winter-to-spring ceremonies. Despite its pagan origins, the event was so extensively celebrated and the tradition so powerful that it was swiftly altered to fit into Catholic rituals. Carnival in Italy is traditionally celebrated on Fat Tuesday, but the weekend prior features activities as well.
Although the origins of Carnival may be traced back to ancient Greek and Roman celebrations, it is associated with the Catholic world. In actuality, it is celebrated on holidays, the final day before Lent when feasting is permitted. Therefore, it does not have a fixed date, but rather relies on the day of Easter. In different places, the celebrations grew into a party and a parade for diverse causes. Whether the higher classes were exhibiting their wealth with elegantly decorated carriages, or the poorer classes were following troops through the streets, Carnival evolved across Italy. Many Carnivals were prohibited in the 18th century, only to be reinstated in the 20th.
Venice
The Carnival of Venice is an annual festival held in Venice, Italy, famous throughout the world for its elaborate costumes and masks. The Carnival ends on Shrove Tuesday (Martedì Grasso or Mardi Gras), which is the day before the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday. The Carnival traces its origins to the Middle Ages, existing for several centuries until it was abolished in 1797. The tradition was revived in 1979.Alessandro Bressanello, Il carnivale in età moderna: 30 agni di carnivale a Venezia 1980-2010 (in Italian), Studio LT2, 2010; Fulvio Roiter, Carnaval de Venise, Lausanne, Payot, 1981.
The Carnival in Venice was first documented in 1296, with a proclamation by the Venetian Senate announcing a public festival the day before the start of Lent. Unquestionably one of the most well-known Carnival festivities in the world, the Carnival of Venice is rife with mystery, adventure, and conspiracy. The day served to break down barriers between people of different economic standings and religious beliefs. During the Renaissance, masked comic performers performed in Venice's piazzas. Today, about 3 million people travel to Venice to take part in the famous Festa veneziana. This makes it the most important event in the city and the biggest Carnival celebration in Italy.
According to legend, the Carnival of Venice began after the military victory of the Venetian Republic over the patriarch of Aquileia, Ulrich II, in the year 1162. In honour of this, the people started to dance and gather in St Mark's Square. Apparently, this festival started in that period and became official during the Renaissance.Danilo Reato, Storia del carnivale di Venezia (in Italian), Venezia, Assessorato alla Cultura della Provincia di Venezia, 1988. In the 17th century, the Baroque Carnival preserved the prestigious image of Venice in the world.Gilles Bertrand, Histoire du carnaval de Venise, XIe-XXIe siècle (in French), Paris, Pigmalion, 2013, p. 37-94. It was very famous during the 18th century.Stefania Bertelli, Il Carnivale di Venezia nel Settecento (in Italian), Roma, Jouvence, 1992. It encouraged licence and pleasure, but it was also used to protect Venetians from present and future anguish.James H. Johnson, Venice incognito: masks in the Serene Republic, Berkeley: University of California Press, 2011; Gilles Bertrand, Histoire du carnaval de Venise, XIe-XXIe siècle (in French), Paris, Pigmalion, p. 95-235. However, under the rule of Emperor Francis II, the festival was outlawed entirely in 1797 and the use of masks became strictly forbidden. It reappeared gradually in the 19th century, but only for short periods and above all for private feasts, where it became an occasion for artistic creations.Gilles Bertrand, Histoire du carnaval de Venise, XIe-XXIe siècle, Paris, Pigmalion, 2013, p. 237-310.
Masks have always been an important feature of the Venetian Carnival. Traditionally people were allowed to wear them between the festival of Santo Stefano (Saint Stephen's Day, 26 December) and the end of the Carnival season at midnight of Shrove Tuesday (movable, but during February or early March). As masks were also allowed on Ascension and from 5 October to Christmas, people could spend a large portion of the year in disguise.
Maskmakers (mascherari) enjoyed a special position in society, with their own laws and their own guild, with their own statute dated 10 April 1436. Mascherari belonged to the fringe of painters and were helped in their task by sign-painters who drew faces onto plaster in a range of different shapes and paying extreme attention to detail.
Venetian masks can be made of leather or porcelain, or by using the original glass technique. The original masks were rather simple in design, decoration, and often had a symbolic and practical function. Nowadays, most Italian masks are made with the application of gesso and gold leaf and are hand-painted, using natural feathers and gems to decorate. However, this makes them rather expensive when compared to the widespread, low-quality masks produced abroad. This competition accelerates the decline of this historical craftsmanship particular to the city of Venice.
Several distinct styles of mask are worn in the Venice Carnival, some with identifying names.Danilo Reato, Les masques de Venise, Paris, Hersher, 1991 (first published in italian, 1988) People with different occupations wore different masks.
Viareggio
The Carnival of Viareggio is the second-most popular in Italy. The Carnival of Viareggio is a carnival event annually held in the Tuscan city of Viareggio, Italy. It is considered amongst the most renowned carnival celebrations in both Italy and Europe. Its main characteristic is given by the parade of floats and masks, usually made of paper-pulp, depicting caricatures of popular people, such as politicians, showmen, and sportsmen; the parade is held on the Viareggio avenue located alongside the local beach. Every year, the Carnevale di Viareggio attracts more than 500,000 spectators.
Carnival celebrations are scheduled every weekend night in the city's different quarters or Rioni with the best known bars, restaurants, discos and hotels in Versilia hosting all-night colourful masked parties. Additionally, during the four-week celebration, plays in vernacular language are staged around the city. The carnival has papier-mâché gargantuan allegorical floats with the largest ones weighing about and reaching . The Carnival Giant Float Parades take place along a ring set aside Viareggio's Liberty era boardwalk, best known as .
The first Viareggio Carnival parade was held in 1873, when some wealthy middle-class men decided to organize a parade of floats adorned with flowers; a number of local citizens, as a sign of protest, then decided to put on masks in order to show their refusal of high taxes they were forced to pay. The first float to win the parade, in 1883, was named ('The Four Moors'), an accurate representation of the Livorno statue of the same name. The official mascot of the Viareggio Carnival is a Burlamacco, first depicted in 1931 by Uberto Bonetti. Since 2001, all the floats are built in an apposite seat, called ('Carnival Citadel').
Ivrea
The Carnival of Ivrea is famous for its "Battle of the Oranges" fought with fruit between the people on foot and the troops of the tyrant on carts, to remember the wars of the Middle Ages, allegory of struggle for freedom. It is the largest food fight in Italy and surrounding countries.
Regarding the origins, a popular account has it that the battle commemorates the city's defiance against the city's tyrant, who is either a member of the Ranieri family or a conflation of the 12th-century and the 13th-century Marquis William VII of Montferrat. This tyrant attempted to rape a young commoner (often specified as a miller's daughter) on the evening of her wedding, supposedly exercising the droit du seigneur. The tyrant's plan backfired when the young woman instead decapitated him, after which the populace stormed and burned the palace. Each year, a young girl is chosen to play the part of Violetta, the defiant young woman.
Every year the citizens remember their liberation with the "Battle of the Oranges", where teams of aranceri (orange handlers) on foot throw oranges (representing old weapons and stones) against aranceri riding in carts (representing the tyrant's ranks). During the 19th-century French occupation of Italy, the Carnival of Ivrea was modified to add representatives of the French army. Another adaptation of the story has the oranges used to symbolize the removed testicles of the tyrant.
The oldest rituals of Ivrea Carnival include a large bonfire and are similar to ancient celebrations linked to the end of winter and the rise of the new spring. The battle was on hiatus during 2021, but returned in 2023. Other cancellations occurred in 1915–1918 and 1940–1945.
Foiano della Chiana