When I first moved to Italy I had no idea what Carnival “Carnevale” was.
In Canada it just doesn’t exist, and at the time I hadn’t made a connection between Mardì Gras in New Orleans and the Carnival of Venezia or Brazil. And, to be perfectly honest, I had no idea that there were carnivals in almost every Catholic country on the planet (of course aside from 90% of North America for some reason!).
When I moved to Italy it was mid-December, and in February one of my best friends from Canada came to visit me with her man. This week she reminded me that when they were in Milan they kept commenting on all the little pieces of colored paper everywhere and I realized WE MISSED THE CARNIVAL!
Tomorrow is Fat Tuesday “Martedì Grasso” aka Mardi Gras, which ends approximately 3 weeks of carnival festivities here in Italy. In commemoration of this, and the incredible time I’ve had celebrating, I thought I would dedicate this week to Carnevale!
I want to share a bit about what I’ve learned from this time living in Italy so that the next time you happen to find yourself in Italy from mid-February to early March you don’t make the same mistakes I made and MISS THE CARNIVAL!
I’ll be sharing
- Local Carnival Traditions
- The Time I went to the Carnevale di Venezia
- Websites you can use to help you find a Carnivale party and parade anywhere in Italy
- Costume Ideas – aka Hallowe’en upcycling
- Stories behind the “Masks” that represent the Cities in Italy
The “Carnevale Dei Bambini in Spilamberto (Modena)
Last week all over Italy “Carnevale” was being celebrated everywhere. Interestingly enough, even though there are 4 or 5 major Carnivals in Italy that are famous all over the world, there are also HUNDREDS of smaller Carnival celebrations that take place in different cities, towns or even in neighborhoods in big cities. All you need to do to find them is go to your local event website or pick up a paper and check the “Carnival” section!
Last weekend we were busy, but till managed to squeeze in a few hours at the “Carnevale dei Bambini”, the “Children’s Carnevale” in Spilamberto, a small town located near Modena.
Spilamberto is famous because it is the home of the traditional Balsamic Vinegar Museum where a Consort holds an annual contest producing the winner of the best Balsamic Vinegar. Founded in 1210, the city was surrounded by an antique wall and is characterized by a medieval clock tower which would have been where the entrance into the city was.
This small Carnival was “for kids”, and was one of the simplest I have ever been to. Kids were dressed in their costumes and a large area of the city center was sectioned off for dancing, music, games, a petty zoo, craft workshops, snack stations and playing.
In Italy if you have no plans on the weekend in February you take the kids to a local Carnival. Think of hundreds of free Fairs that go on every weekend for a month!
The larger the Carneval the more activities, ranging from parades with floats to dances and full-processions.
I’ll be posting a few pictures to give you an idea of the different types of Carnival parties you can find. In the meantime here are some pictures from the small “Children’s Carnival” in Spilamberto.
All in all it was a great way to kill the afternoon outside in the sunshine. Fill me in, is it just me that didn’t realize that carnival was a HUGE international “thing”. Does your local town celebrate?
My husband has a theory that one of the main reasons the Carnival takes place in the winter is to cheer people up from the winter blues, since there are no “official” holidays and it is cold/dark. If that’s the case I propose that Canada gets on the Carnival Bandwagon, because anyone that’s survived a Canadian winter knows that the Santa Clause parade once a year just isn’t cutting it in terms of lifting people’s spirits through the long winter.
What do you think?
Life link-ups!
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