From Venice to Oristano it is time for Carnival – Escape
VENICE – It is the most fun and irreverent party of the year, even if the health emergency from 2020 is limiting the celebrations: some of the most spectacular events can be admired in person or in streaming, others have been postponed to the summer and others canceled. This year Shrove Thursday is February 24, while March 1 closes the Carnival in all of Italy except in Milan, where the Ambrosian rite keeps it going until March 5.
In Venice, a masked crowd, that is, with health masks, greeted the start of the celebrations, which began last February 12 with the first costumes in the streets and in Piazza San Marco. The Carnival in the lagoon is an event followed all over the world for its history, the beauty of the masks, the charm of the city and for the many cultural and thematic events: from theater workshops, to games for children, from exhibitions to gastronomic markets, from shows to parades and guided tours. This year’s edition – Remember the future – is inspired by a quote from Salvador Dalì: “And most of all I remember the future”. Carnival turns into a surreal game, a mental upheaval that allows you to open unexpected scenarios and which, thanks to technology, also involves remotely. Among the traditional events that unfortunately do not come alive are also the flight of the Angel and the large stages of Piazza San Marco and Piazza Ferretto.
However, there are still many appointments around the city and its surroundings: “Strabilierie and widespread art for the city” with street games and theatrical performances, “Nebula Solaris” with the Venetian party on the water that moves to the Arsenale in a theater in the open air and the “Carnival of culture” with events in many indoor and outdoor spaces. Info: carnevale.venezia.it Another Carnival around the world is that of Viareggio, which this year celebrates 149 years with 6 processions of allegorical floats. From February 20 to March 12, huge and spectacular cars parade along the seafront with papier-mâché caricatures of famous people of current affairs, in the world of politics, sport or entertainment, revisited with irony and linked by the artists of the Viareggio Carnival. The first parade is preceded by the inauguration ceremony and the flag-raising ritual that opens the Carnival celebrations. The second parade takes place on the evening of Shrove Thursday, February 24th, with an evocative light show and illuminated allegorical floats. All the constructions return to parade from the 15th of February 27th and March 1st; the last two parades are scheduled for Saturday 5 and 12 March, when the winning float of the 2022 Carnival will be announced. A fireworks display will close the celebrations. Info: viareggio.ilcarnevale.com The Carnival of Fano is one of the oldest in Italy: its birth dates back to 1347, the date of the first known document in which expenses are borne by the Municipality for the carnival celebrations. Even this year, however, it will not be possible to have the usual celebrations, with the parade of floats and the throwing of sweets to the people crowded along the street; on the program there is instead a week of events including exhibitions, workshops, concerts, markets and bicycle parades. Among these, the exhibition “Painted Carnival: the unpublished works of Pierluigi Piccinetti”, open every day from February 19 to March 1, from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm, at Palazzo Bracci Pagani; the official start of the Carnival is on 24 February at 2 pm in Piazza XX Settembre with the small market and at 5 pm with the ceremony of passing the keys of the city of the mayor of Fano to that of the Carnival. Saturday 26 February, the Montegiove Castle hosts “S-cortesie d’Amore”, dinner with crime and awarding of the most beautiful mask. Sunday 27 at 10.30 we meet in Piazza XX Settembre for the “Bici e Baci”, pedaling in masks, and at 11.30 for a sup race to the port. At 3 pm there is a guided tour of the Carnival factory, with all the representatives of the party that will end on March 1st at 6 pm with live music. Info: carnevaledi upcomingfano.com If the Carnival of Putignano has been postponed to the estate and that of Acireale has been postponed to April 21, the historic celebrations in Ivrea have been almost canceled: the Carnival famous for the throwing of oranges from the floats, this too year however proposes the #uncarnevalediricordi initiative, a format based on sharing memories and images. The protagonists of the celebrations are told in a path of 100 images, some unpublished, exhibited from 21 February to 6 March in over 150 shop windows in Ivrea. The photographs tell the story and the background of the famous Piedmontese Carnival: from the parades of allegorical floats to the first orange battles faced without coats of arms and in overalls; from the first uniforms of the orange-throwers with graphics and symbols that have now disappeared, such as the Arduini crown or small chess pieces, to the Panthers in Piazza Ferrando or beans cooked in suits in the 1950s. Memories also reveal the broth ritual before the Scarli, the goliardic torchlight processions, the Palio and the balcony shooting. Info: storicocarnevaleivrea.it In Sardinia the Carnival of Oristano, the Sartiglia, is celebrated with a different formula to guarantee safety. There will not be the traditional race to the star and the pairs with a paying audience in the stands, but the moments of the centuries-old event: the dressing of the Su Componidori, the leaders of the two ancient guilds of Peasants and Carpenters, the blessing of the city and the crossing of swords.
The unusual and spectacular Sardinian Carnival is based on the charm of the Crusades and medieval knightly tournaments. The Sartiglia begins with the solemn dressing ritual of the Componidori who climb onto a table decorated with flowers and ribbons, while the massaieddas, girls dressed in the traditional Oristano costume, bring them their clothes and support them to dress. For safety reasons, the choreographic race in front of the Cathedral was canceled, but the chivalrous atmosphere and the authenticity of the traditional rites remain in the city.
Info: sartiglia.info (ANSA).