CARNIVAL IN ITALY Carnival is a popular festivity in Italy, celebrated in February. It’s so important that we have a lot of traditions and sayings about Carnival. We say: “A Carnevale ogni scherzo vale”, which means “At Carnival every joke is fair”! The origin of Carnival is religious: in fact the main celebration is on the day before Lent. Lent is the period before Easter during which Christians aren’t allowed to eat meat. Other origins could be found in some cults of the Ancient Greeks and Romans in which people used to change their social status by wearing masks and costumes. According to some historical testimonials, Carnival has been celebrated since the VIII century A.D. Nowadays the Carnival’s festivity is one week long and we get 3 or 4 days of vacation from school. During Carnival people usually wear masks and dresses in order not to be recognized by anyone. We have a lot of traditional characters you can dress as, but people also like to make their own costumes.
Carnival in Viareggio Arlecchino, Pulcinella and Colombina are probably the most popular carnival characters. Colombina is a typical character of the Venetian comedy of art. She is a servant and helps her mistress to exchange letters with her lover.
Arlecchino is a gentleman from Bergamo (northern Italy) dressed in a colorful suit. His origins are related to the Roman comedy: he is probably the evolution of the character of the servant. Pulcinella, instead, is from Naples and is the personification of the city. He wears a white dress and a black mask and is also considered as a lucky charm in Naples. During Carnival, children usually wear costumes at school and do fun activities related to it. In some parts of Italy it is tradition to have huge parades: people build themed wagons and cruiese around the city while everyone is singing and throwing confetti.
Arlecchino, Colombina and Pulcinella O’times
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