Italy celebrates one of its most animated times of the year, Carnival.
“Carnevale” is the annual celebration of life that takes place all over the world, and in Italy at its best, with its tons of good food, crazy costumes, hilarious and fancy masks and spectacular processions of floats.
Experiencing the Italian Carnevale will rival any of the best holidays, bringing entertainment for all ages in true Italian style.
Lying its roots in the ancient Roman festivals of Saturnalia and Bacchanalia, where masters and slaves switched their roles, modern day Carnival has evolved over the centuries and adapted to the modern taste becoming synonymous with colorful street parties, excess and unbridled fun.
Social, political, religious and cultural satire blends in with audacious fun, street entertainment and lots of food.
Masks, period costumes and vibrant parades will be on show in what promises to be a fantastical display of excitement as the huge papier-mâché floats that have been carefully prepared for months finally take to the streets.
Ivrea Carnival – Battle of the Oranges 
Ivrea Carnival – Battle of the Oranges
From the world-famous Viareggio and Acireale parades to Ivrea Battle of the Oranges to the Venice masked balls to more modest village celebrations, Italy’s carnival festivities have a lot to offer. Adults and children alike are able to enjoy the upcoming bonanza of celebrations, which cater to a range of requirements and expectations.
The 140th Viareggio Carnival promises to be one of the most exciting yet. There will be five masked parades through the seaside town, each with its own set of papier-mâché floats.
These floats, some as high as six stories tall, will support giant sculptures and satirical caricatures of politicians and other celebrities, towering comically above the crowds as they move down the streets. The winner of the ‘best float’ award will be announced at the end of the last parade, on March 3.
Few days before Viareggio the lights will all be on Venice, probably the most prestigious carnival of all throughout the whole of Italy.
With its masked balls, street revels, water parades, juggling, historic re-enactments, and dozens, hundreds of elegant candid white masks wrapped in rich velvets, silks and feathers, this year Carnival in Venice is dedicated to the colors because “the colors are an expression of subjectiveness, and they share with the spirit of Venice Carnival the numbers of disguises, each one corresponding to our endless different attitudes” said the Carnival council.
One of the most spectacular events to be held during the Carnival season will be, as usual, the Battle of the Oranges, during which people pelt oranges at the feudal lord’s army, who in turn throw oranges from horse-drawn carts. A re-enactment of the city’s liberation from tyranny in medieval times.
Other unique events will take stage in Acireale (Sicily), Cento (Emilia-Romagna), Tricarico (Basilicata), Aosta, Putignano (Apulia) and Rome. All with their allegorical floats, people wearing traditional costumes and masks, dancing, food and wine.
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