Carnival Museum

The Carnival Museum is located inside the new complex of the "Carnival Citadel", designed by arch. Francesco Tomassi. The museum offers visitors the opportunity to learn more about the history of the Carnival of Viareggio, one of the most famous carnivals in Europe, and to discover something about the techniques for making its large papier-mâché floats. In the various sections in which the museum is divided, it is possible to observe the construction phases "of the mask", from the sketch to the finished product, with the technique of papier-mâché or more precisely of the Viareggio cast paper. It is a technique that obtains excellent aesthetic-formal results, also in different areas, such as furniture, theatrical scenography, and objects. Many of the exhibited works are made of clay and papier mache, the raw materials of the Viareggio carnival: models of heads, bas-reliefs, all-round figures, animal figures, and more, which testify to the art of tank crews, capable of grasping and taking around the vices and defects of contemporary society. Some of the structures on display can be animated with levers and ropes, so visitors can see the simplicity and imagination of the means used by the manufacturers for the movements of the wagons.