During Carnival, everything goes!
The weeks leading up to Carnevale (today!) are filled with mischief.
Carnevale marks the day before Ash Wednesday and has traditionally been an outlet for tension before 40 days of the restrictions during Lent.
Children fill the piazzas on the weekends (parents in tow), and blast each other with silly string or have big confetti wars with handfuls of the stuff.
The little ones dress up in a huge assortment of costumes and parade around with their friends. There are Spidermen, clowns, princesses, pirates, carabinieri, devils, ladybugs, and much more.
You’ll see the debris and fallout from this year’s glorious confetti battles all over the cobblestones.
- Note and photos contributed by Mike Minadeo, photographer and ItalianNotebook.com reader, whose work is available here and here.)
I took some great photos at the Viareggio Carnevale if you are interested. http://bagnidilucca.wordpress.com The Berluscone float was most impressive and there is a post on the people dressed up to wath the parade.
It’s like Halloween but in March! Very Cool!
Less chaos than here in Trastevere, but it shows with affection what takes place.
Arthur
These photos brought back fond memories of a trip to Sicily in the early 90s. We were in Taormina on the last two days of Carnevale and enjoyed the colorful costumes, a parade through the narrow streets, and of course getting pelted with confetti. A year later, when I pulled our suitcases out of the attic, a small shower of confetti fell out!
@Barbara Ross
Oh my, thanks for sharing that memory of the confetti that was still in your suitcase from the year before. What a great souvenir of Italy!
The kids are so adorable! We were in Sicily one year and the Amalfi Coast another and had so much fun! Thanks for the memories!
Great photos – thank you
What fun!
Hi, It is Debra Kolkka again from http://bagnidilucca.wordpress.com My photos of last year’s Carnevale are in the category Carnevale in Viareggio. I am hoping to go again this year to see it again.
The kids are very cute, great pictures
Heartwarming! Thank you for sharing your photos. I will visit your site.
There is confetti stuck to shaving cream on the back of my coat…It’s Carnivale in Orvieto! I think the “silly string” will be stuck to the buildings until Pasqua. :)
I returned from Rome this past Sunday and I had the opportunity to see the children dressed up and tossing confetti. Also saw a large group of street performers. What fun!
ahhhhhhhh, so loved the photos and brought back such happy memories of our three dressing for Carnevale festivities in Assisi when they were small.
Il tempo vola…purtroppo!
:)