It is somewhat of a pipe dream to one day go to Venice to celebrate Carnevale. The images are so beautiful, and I am besotted with the idea of dressing-up with an elegant mask and floating down the maze of canals. However, my dreams of Carnevale in Venice do not involve dragging around two little toddlers, so I may still have to wait a few years to realise that dream. In the meantime, I followed intently the social media feeds from the Venice carnevale. As an alternative, I heard about Carnevale di Viareggio in Tuscany, which is the oldest carnevale festival in Italy, dating back to 1873. It is held over a number of weeks, this year on 7 - 14 - 21 - 28 February and 5 March 2016. Perhaps (?) more child-friendly, it primarily involves a parade of a large number of allegorical papier-mache floats. Each parade march is concluded by a fireworks display. A 3-hour drive from the Langhe, and nestled on the Tuscan coast near Lucca, it is a relatively easy and feasible weekend trip. There is also the historical carnevale festival in Ivrea, in Northern Piedmont, which is famous for the orange-throwing events. One of our Piedmont bloggers wrote a detailed blog about this festival here. While I would certainly enjoy participating in this, it is not my idea of fun with two babes in tow... again, this might have to be parked until some time in the future... ![]() Finally, and as a local alternative, you can get involved in one of the local village mini-festivals of Carnevale. These are generally an excuse for the kids to get dressed up, and participate in fun-filled afternoon of activities. I went to one in Treiso, near Barbaresco, which seemed to me to be very well-organised and rather large. I think I can be satisfied with this one, at least for the next few years... This post is part of the #Blogpiemonte Group. Enjoy other blogs on carnevale here:
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AuthorEleanor Fletcher - living in the heart of the Langhe, Monforte D'Alba (Barolo). Searching for great eats, formidable drinks and fun times. Married to a Barolo and Barbaresco producer, plus a mother of two 'principesse'. Archives
August 2017
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