Wanna Go to a Carnevale?

Sept. 16, 2010 - PRLog -- It is a huge winter festival that is celebrated with parades, masquerade balls, entertainment
40 days before Easter at the end of winter. The Viareggio Carnevale comes from pagan festivals and uses some of its traditions, which have been adapted to comply with Catholic traditions. The Carnevale happens on only one date in Venice, but in other areas of Italy they hold it for a few days - sometimes as long as two weeks. So maybe you would want book a trip around Italy staying at Tuscany villas, Sicily manors or by cliffs at Calabria.

The masks are seen as a key part of the festival, and Venice is the city that is a crucial factor for the masks because most of the masks are made there. The masks range from the cheap affordable masks to the pricey but most elegant looking masks. In the streets of Venice you will see streets swamped with a sea of masks, there is just so much variety to choose from. You could easily do some window shopping and pick the one you want if you wanted to take part in the festivities. There are costume shops too, but they get dwarfed by the shops and stalls that sell these masks. There was a period when Venice stopped celebrating Carnevale around the fall of the Republic, but it was revived in 1979.

The Viareggio Carnevale is based on the Tuscany coast and is one of the biggest Carnevale celebrations in the country. In this one there are parades of giant paper mache floats. This happens every Sunday and Shrove Tuesday in that period, so there are four parades in total and each of them are different. Although, there is an admission price to view them but it is totally worth it as they certainly take pride in their parades. It takes roughly a full year to prepare a float and it would be impossible for everyone to see them in a day.

There are also various events that happen here; from masked balls to concerts that is sure to cater to people of all ages. Also restaurants in the area put on special carnival menus, with some of the dishes that appear only being found during this period - so you will be able to experience some exclusives that some may never get to try.

You could compare this with Halloween, and to a lesser extent Christmas, as when it comes to the kids celebrating this there are similarities. As there are myths of a few things, such as on the night of the 5th of January the Befana a witch will fly through the sky at night to fill children's stockings with candy if they have been good, and coal if they have been bad. Sounds like a certain jolly round man, doesn't it?

The festival is something not to be missed as it is an experience of a lifetime, you will see visions of things that you may never see again - especially in the Tuscany based one where floats change every parade.





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