Carnival

ALL OUR USES.

LETS START A MAGIC TRAVEL IN THE ITALIAN (IN
PARTCULAR CALABRIAN) HISTORY OF THIS AMAZING
TRADITION… READY?
The word «Carnevale» originally comes
from the Latin “carne” (meat) and “levare” (remove).
 Let’s jump in the past…
 Carnival has origins in ancient festivals, such as the Greek
festivals in honour of Dionysio or the Roman Saturnali when,
thanks to use of carnival mask, peasants and lords alike could
mix together without being recognized.
Traditionally, in the Catholic
countries, Carnival began with
the Sunday of Septuagesima (the
first of the nine that precedes the
Holy Week), and it ends on the
Tuesday before the Wednesday of
the Ashes, that marks the
beginning of Lent.
In the Catholic church, the
Carnival was considerated a time
to reflect and to be reconcilied
with God, because it precedes the
Easter.
 Our traditions:
 In Italy, we usually build some wagons in
the occasion of the Carnival festivities.
These, then, are paraded in the streets
together with masquerading people. The
wagons are often satirical and ironic and
often concern politics. In Calabria, after
the celebrations of the last day of
Carnival, the chariot is set on fire as a
sign of good luck and, to celebrate the
Wednesday of the ashes.
This is our wagon
during the burning….

In my little place we burn our wagons while people, after the

last parade, forme a circle around it and make the countdown.
Our traditions…

During the parade of the wagons,

singing, dancing and joking, throwing
the “coriandoli” and streamers. It is a
real joy to see the children having fun on
the happiest party of the year.
Me (I’m the clown) and my friends at Carnival party.
Every year in the oratory of our little town we organize a Carnival party. We must masquerate ourselves and we enjoy
this amazng night singing, dancing and eating Carnival sweets!
 OUR MASKS…
 Masquerading is still the characteristic of the modern Carnival. The old
traditional maschere (masks) are still very popular, having become the symbol
of Carnevale.
 The traditional masks date back to the Commedia dell’arte (comedy of art), an
improvised comedy popular in Italian theatres, which featured familar “stock”
characters. Almost every Italian town has its characteristic maschera, but some
of these have became well known throughout the whole of Italy thanks to Carlo
Goldoni and to the Teatro dei Burattini (a popular puppet-theatre portrayng the
maschera charcters).
In the fist photo I’m with my mum, in the others with one of my
friends… We all love Carnival! We love masquerate and
makeup ourself!!
 The most famous masks:
Pantalone
•Pantalone (Pantaloon) is one
of the most important character
in Goldoni’s plays. He is an old
and rich Venetian, prudent and
avaricious, who often falls in
love with women much younger
than himselfs. He wears a red
shirt over red trousers, a black
or red hat and black sleeveless
coat, and has a pointed beard.
 The most famous masks:

Colombina
Female maschera. Her name comes for
colomba (dove), the name given to a
young woman who is inno Colombina
(Columbine) is the most popular cent
and naive or is pretending to be so.
Pretty, cunning and chiacchierona,
Colombina represents the typical
servant who is always lying in order to
protect her young mistress. She used
engaged or married to Arlecchino.
 The most famous masks:

 Arlecchino (Harlequin) is
certainly the most popular and
best loved Italian maschera.
Born in Bergamo, Arlecchino is
a servant who is furbo, liar and
witty. He wears a multicolored
patchwork costume made up of
many diamond shaped pieces
of fabric.
This year I loved Carnival, because we start together building the
wagon and we joined so much, and we finished always with joy and
happiness with all our masks! I was a clown and many childreen
enjoyed with me, so this made me so happy.. But, first of all.. I love my
friends!
The Calabrian Mask: Giangurgolo.
The Calabrian mask is Giangurgolo. He is a rich
gentleman, braggart and defiant, always hungry and
he sometimes steals. He wears a red mask enriched
with a cardboard nose, on the head a conical hat,
wearing a Spanish collar, a red and yellow striped
bodice, always red and yellow trousers, white socks
and a belt with a long sword hanging on it.
The origin of this mask is uncertain. Some believe
that she was born in Napoli and then she was taken
to Reggio Calabria, while others say she was born in
Catanzaro in the image and likeness of a person who
really existed.
 Our Carnival sweeets...

Chiacchiere (rumors): they

are fried sheets and sprinlked
with powdered sugar. They
are full of bubbles o the
surface, they are crisply and
light. They can be a little
ticker and filled with
chocolate, custard, or even
savory
Our Carnival sweets…

Castagnole: they are

fried sweets that owes its
name to their resemblance
of the shape with
chestnuts. In fact, they are
swollen balls, golden and
covered with sugar.
Sometimes they are filled
with Nutella or ricotta.
At last, we hope you enjoyed this trip in the
Carnival, we look forward to your work, so
we can confide. See you soon and… At the
next festivity!
A SPECIAL GOODBYE BY YOUR ITALIAN FRIENDS: ROSSELLA, SOFIA, NINA,
GIOVANNA AND BENEDETTA.