In 2020 the Viareggio Carnival celebrates 147 years of life under the sign of a vivid tradition such as the long-established European tradition of Carnival festivals. It is no doubt one of the best known events in Italy. Each year the Viareggio Carnival attracts more than 600.000 spectators gathering to attend the magic of the grand parades of large floats in papier-maché.
The peculiarity of the Viareggio Carnival consists in giant, allegorical papier-maché floats - the biggest ones weighing about forty tons - and expresses today the old knowledge that goes back to the ancient ‘trionfi’ (war-victory feastings) of the Renaissance, adhering even more to the building techniques of the big sailing boats, a pride of Viareggio traditions.
The peculiarity of the Viareggio Carnival consists in giant, allegorical papier-maché floats - the biggest ones weighing about forty tons - and expresses today the old knowledge that goes back to the ancient ‘trionfi’ (war-victory feastings) of the Renaissance, adhering even more to the building techniques of the big sailing boats, a pride of Viareggio traditions.
Place
Viareggio, Viale a mare
When
26/09/2021 | 2nd Masked Parades
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02/10/2021 | 3rd Masked Parades
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03/10/2021 | 4th Masked Parades
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09/10/2021 | 5th Masked Parades
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Background
Since 1873 the largest folkloric event The first parade of festively decorated carriages in the historic Via Regia, in the heart of the old town, is dated 1873. It was the first edition of the great show which is today the Carnival of Viareggio. The idea of a parade to celebrate the Carnival blossomed among the young people of Viareggio well then who frequented the casino coffee. It was February 24th, 1873 and a parade was planned for the following day, Shrove Tuesday. From that first nucleus the Carnival of Viareggio developed as it is known today: spectacular event among the most beautiful and grandiose in the world. The fame of the Corso Mascherato in Viareggio has grown hand in hand with the growth in the size of the allegorical floats. At the end of the century, triumphal floats appeared on the parade, monuments built in wood, scagliola and jute, modeled by local sculptors and set up by carpenters and blacksmiths who worked in shipyards in the dock. Thanks to the transfer of the parade circuit from the Via Regia to the Promenade to the sea, at the beginning of the 20th century, the show of the Viareggio Carnival was able to enjoy an extraordinary, yet spacious, stage that stimulated the imagination and creativity of the Master tankers. Not even the First World War managed to destroy the demonstration. Who stopped, but then resumed his celebrations.
