The three cannon shots will kick off the 144th year edition of Viareggio's Carnival on Sunday, February 12, at 15:00, with the Great Opening Parade. The giant floats will be back on the Sea-front Saturday 18 February at 17:00 for the night edition with the great fireworks. Third parade on Sunday, February 26 at 15:00 and fourth parade on Mardi Gras February 28, at 15:00, with another fireworks show you shouldn't miss.
The grand finale is scheduled for Sunday, March 5, for the closing parade which will start at 15:00 and will end with the announcement of the verdicts of the juries and the extraordinary fireworks.
The floats start from the hangars at Cittadella del Carnevale and parade along the whole seafront of Versilia's main town. Floats made “‹”‹of papier-mache for Viareggio's Carnival, the most spectacular in Tuscany, one of the most famous in Europe and in the world.
From papier-mache to fiberglass, "recovering " the experiences of Viareggio's shipwrights, the artisans perform with their huge creations animated by a team of 20-30 people, large masked groups consisting of an average of 200 elements and a band with a minimum of 10 musicians. They all put themselves out to win the prizes awarded by the Carnival Foundation.
From the seventies onwards, the dominant theme of the allegorical contructions has been the political satire, flanked by fantastic themes. The two categories of floats in the competition, the group-masks and the isolated masks, these last ones usually made by young emerging artists, challange also through phantasy and satyre.
In the evening the party continues: in the streets of the districts and in the town clubs all masks are welcome. Here is played cheerful music and you can dance until late at night. Last but not least there are many parallel programs in which the real nature of Viareggio stands out: The "Festival of Canzonetta", the "Festival of Burlamacco", "Canzonissima di Carnevale", just to name a few of them.
CARNEVALE DI VIAREGGIO – The parades
Viareggio, seafront
2017 February 12/26/28 and March 5
h. 3:00 pm
2017 February 18
h. 5:00 pm
Admission: February 28 and March 5 € 15,00; February 12/26/28 € 18,00; (Concessions are available)
Joint tickets: € 30,00; concessions € 20,00