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The Italian Carnival

Venice Carnival


The Italian Carnival is a lively celebration before Lent, highlighted by spirited parades, vibrant costumes, and masks. This tradition involves theatrical performances featuring entertaining comedies with masked characters. Characterized by exuberant and colourful festivities, this ancient celebration allows for anything to go: games, pranks, pretence, and hiding behind a mask are the norm. The event provides a temporary escape into a world of color and performance, serving as a joyous prelude to the solemn season of Lent.

Italian carnival traditions

So, why is Carnival celebrated in Italy? When is the Italian Carnival? Why do they dress up in costumes and what is the importance of the masks? And furthermore, why do Italian say: a carnevale ogni scherzo vale? Read on to find out…

Carnevale 2024

Wants to know all about dates and events for Carnevale 2024? See a full article at the end of this blog.

Read all about Carnival in Italian!

Feeling like reading in Italian? Here is your chance with this blog written in Italian and can be read from level A2. Click here to read.

What are the origins of the Italian Carnival?

The Italian Carnival is an early festival whose origins can be found in ancient Rome. However, celebrations similar to the ones we see today become official in the Middle Ages. This joyous mid-Winter festival, as we know today, has Catholic origins, it lasts for two or three weeks ending with the biggest and most spectacular celebrations on Shrove Tuesday.

Carnivals in Italy are tremendously popular and loved by adults and children, Italians and foreigners.

When is the Italian Carnival?

Officially, the Italian Carnival starts after the 6th of January. However, the main festivities and celebrations are carried out in the weeks preceding Lent. When is Lent? This is about 40 days before Easter Sunday.

Most of the celebrations take place during the last week, starting on Shrove Thursday and ending the following week on Shrove Tuesday, which is the day before Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent.

What is the meaning of the word Carnevale

The word Carnevale comes from the Latin “Carnem levare”, meaning ‘remove the meat’ and it refers to the celebrations and feasts preceding Ash Wednesday, which marks the start of Lent when people would fast and abstain from eating meat.

Italian Carnival costumes and masks

In ancient times, the Carnival was a tradition characterised by a period of exuberance, excess, folly, mockery, and a sense of general release, which is still present in its modern version.

The idea of the upside-down world would be celebrated, so that for example the poor would dress as a rich person and the rich as a poor.

Dressing up and wearing a mask are, therefore, essential to Carnival. The concealment of one’s identity allows for freedom from inhibitions, but also for the freedom to mock the rich and powerful without repercussions. But there is more, the mask and costume are also used for personal expression and ultimately as an art form.


Italian Carnival
Italian Carnival

The Italian regional masks

The Italian Carnival focuses on characters, known as maschere in Italian, originating from Italian Art Comedy (Commedia dell’Arte). These characters have gained fame and evolved into symbolic figures. Every Italian region has its own unique mask representing them, with these characters closely tied to local legends, customs, and traditions.

Arlecchino and Pulcinella

In the lively panorama of Italian masks, two of the most iconic and beloved characters are Arlecchino and Pulcinella. Arlecchino, known for his colorful, diamond-patterned costume, is a mischievous and nimble character originating from the Commedia dell’arte tradition. His mask, with its distinctive long nose and wide grin, represents the playful spirit of carnival. Arlecchino’s character varies from region to region, reflecting the local nuances of humor and performance.

Pulcinella, on the other hand, hails from the southern regions of Italy, particularly Naples. This character is recognized for his distinctive mask featuring a long, hooked nose and a hunchbacked appearance. Pulcinella is a witty and sarcastic figure, often portrayed as a clever servant who outsmarts his master. His presence in the carnival celebrations adds a touch of irreverent humor and satire.

Would you like to discover more about the great variety of regional masks? I have found this charming blog in Italian that details many of the Italian masks. Click here to read it.

Arlecchino
Image by Freepik

The Italian Carnival Floats

Today, the Carnival maintains its ancient idea of mockery and of making fun of the powerful. This is expressed for instance with the elaborate carnival floats which are paraded in the major cities.

These floats have a satirical meaning, they make fun of current political or famous people or even recent events. Most famous are the parade of floats of Viareggio in Tuscany and of Foiano della Chiana – the oldest Carnival in Italy – also in Tuscany.

Where is Carnival celebrated in Italy?

The Italian Carnival is celebrated all over Italy, so much so that each city, town and small village will celebrate this one way or another.

However, the most famous and spectacular Carnivals are celebrated in Venice (Veneto), Viareggio (Toscana), Ivrea (Piemonte), Foiano della Chiana (Toscana), Putignano (Puglia), Cento (Emilia Romagna), Acireale (Sicilia) e Mamoiada (Sardegna).

The Carnival of Venice

The Italian most famous carnival is the one celebrated in Venice. This attracts millions of tourists from all over the world. Venice is turned into an open-air theatre: full of music, parties, parades of masks and various events celebrated on water as well as on land.

Perhaps the most famous and most iconic of these events is the Flight of the Angel held on the second Sunday of Carnival. This is the ceremony that officially opens the celebrations. For this event a beautiful (and incredibly courageous) girl is chosen to impersonate the Angel and is floated down from the tall tower of Piazza San Marco to the middle of this famous square.

Venice Carnival
Venice Carnival

The Italian Carnival characters

The Italian Carnival is not only celebrated by dressing up and partying but also with theatre performances, and especially with comedies. Historically the main characters, dressed in costumes and wearing a mask, would enact practical jokes at the expense of the rich and powerful.

Each Italian region has its own Carnival Character, for example Arlecchino is from Bergamo, Lombardy, Pulcinella from Naples, Campania, Gianduia from Turin, Piedmont and so on.

Carnival for children

As a child, at my school, each year we would put on a theatre performance. Children were chosen for the performance and would work hard to learn their parts and rehearse. On the day, all children would come to school dressed up in costumes and a mask. The celebrations included watching the performance, usually very funny and full of jokes. This would be followed by the party. Here again there would be practical jokes, the throwing of confetti and streamers around and eating plenty of traditional chiacchiere, a sweet fritter typical of Carnival.

woman blowing paper confetti
Coriandoli (confetti)

A Carnevale ogni scherzo vale

The famous saying of carnival is a Carnevale ogni scherzo vale. At carnival all tricks, jokes and practical jokes are allowed. So be careful when you open your door, a bag of flour might just fall on your head!

Italian carnival food

Food is always important in any Italian celebration and at Carnevale Italians eat a special type of sweet fritter.

These Italian Carnival pastries are eaten in all Italian regions but they are called with different names. In some regions they are known as chiacchiere, in others frappe or bugie, cenci, carafoi, etc.

Chiacchiere
Italian Carnival Pastry

Make them at home

Chiacchiere are truly delicious, and not what you would expect from such simple ingredients.

Would you like to try and make them yourself? It is not difficult, just set aside some time at the weekend to make this an enjoyable and very rewarding cooking session with children or even by yourself. This a good recipe, it’s written in Italian, so that you get some language practice at the same time. Let me know if you make them, post a picture on Facebook and tag me or on Instagram and tag #italianwithparlaitaliano.

Click here for your recipe.

Some essential vocabulary:

Carnevale 2024

As Carnevale is linked to Easter and Easter is a moving festivity, each year Carnival starts on a different date. If you want to find out more about 2024 dates, click here to read.

The pronoun CI in Italian

In Italian, the pronoun “ci” is versatile, serving as a direct, indirect, and reflexive pronoun. It takes on various roles, acting as a pronoun of location and forming various pronominal verbs. Its multifunctionality can make “ci” confusing, but examining each function separately can clarify its meaning in different contexts.

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Italian culture: The family

Explore Italian culture, improve your reading skills, and enrich your vocabulary by reading this blog. Delve into the significance of family in Italy while you discover new vocabulary.

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