Carnevale... with kids?

Photo care of Giovanni Maw in Venice Carnival gallery on www.flickr.com/photos/maw78maw/

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.    

Image taken from official website page: http://viareggio.ilcarnevale.com/en/

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...

image care of official website: http://www.storicocarnevaleivrea.it/la-manifestazione/immagini/storico-carnevale-divrea-2016/nggallery/carnevale-2016/2016_squadre-a-piedi

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:

• The Treasonous Past of Famous Gianduja of Carnevale, by the prolific Diana Zahuranec for winepass, and The oldest carnevale in Piedmont, on her personal blog;
• Lettuce, rags and lies by Turinmamma;
• Carnevale in Piemonte means Bugie!, by ItaliAnna
  
• Ivrea, THE Carnival in Piedmont, by Turin Epicurean Capital;
• No snow, try carnevale, by Living in the Langhe;
• At Carnival, anything goes, especially wine!, by uncorkventional.

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