Floats, masks and parades, this is the carnival in Viareggio

A spectacular festival where all the Italian knowledge of arts and crafts parade down the road, creating moving theatres consisting of paper mache characters and a whole lot of creative fantasy.
Viareggio’s Carnival is one of Italy’s most loved festivals.

Along the 3km long promenade beside the beach – alongside a stretch of the city with theatres, cafes, liberty style buildings, nice shops and seaside resorts – every winter the carnival is celebrated, with characteristic carnival floats on show crafted and created by skilled artisans throughout the course of the year.
An antique tradition: the first parade of decorated floats dates back to the 1873 and took place in the historical Via Regia.
Over the centuries the changes that followed have been many, right up until the modern-day carnival. The most important changes relate to 1920s when the animation of characters was introduced (Pierrot del Giampieri was the first to open his eyes) and the papier-mâché technique was invented, a cheap and lightweight material that allowed for a significant increase in the dimensions of carts and characters.

Today the Carnival of Viareggio is an appointment rooted in the Italian calendar, with impressive parades which are real and proper battles of skills, teetering between techniques, creativity, scenographic components and social commentary. For every Corso Mascherato there are hundreds of thousands of people that decide the success of this vast and colourful manifestation, lasting approximately one month in which day after day different events alternate from masked vigils, parade of floats and street parties.

If you decide to visit Viareggio during another period of the year when the carnival is not on but are however fascinated by this long and notorious tradition, a good idea might be to visit the Cittadella del Carnevale, a complex architecture born in 2001 and entirely dedicated to the creation and conservation of the Carnival. Inside you will find the Carnival Museum and the Contemporary Art Museum Carnevalotto, a collection of contemporary artworks by major contemporary personalities inspired by Viareggio’s Carnival.

For info on the program, please visit the address:
http://viareggio.ilcarnevale.com

Casale amati

Reviews

DIEGO B.

Un prezioso angolo di eleganza.
Abbiamo alloggiato nel Casale per il ponte del 1 maggio, con altre due famiglie, prendendo 2 delle 3 strutture contigue che formano il Casale. Ogni struttura è definita da uno stile proprio e molto curato nei dettagli, lasciando inalterate le suggestioni di quando era la residenza estiva dei proprietari.
Federica, la proprietara, vi conquesterà immediatamente per la sua gentilezza e la passione che trasmette nel racconto sulle origini della struttura. Un perfetto rifugio se il desiderio è quello di vivere autenticamente e senza eccessi, la zona già di per se stessa è meravigliosa.
Grazie di tutto!!

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Diego B. Roma, Italia (Marchesa&Macine)

REVIEWED ON TRIPADVISOR.COM

ELISABETH N.

Simply Perfect
A perfect place to stay in with your family and/or friends. From the outside the old olive-oil mill may not look like much but inside you realize that you have stepped into a castle. It is a grand old place with parts of the mill still showing it one of the two great kitchens. There are plenty of rooms to choose from, the upper rooms with AC and down below cool enough for a hot summer. The garden is very pretty, with gold-fish in the dam, plenty of room to relax. The house is situated in the foothills of the mountains, but not far from the sea. There is plenty to do in the area and I cannot enough stress that you need to see this place and realize you will want to come back. The hostess is very pleasant and helpful, a very nice encounter.

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Elisabeth Nyköping, Svezia (Marchesa&Macine).

REVIEWED ON TRIPADVISOR.COM

FEDRIGO ORLEANS

L’endroit où nous sentons chez nous.
Il Casale Amati est devenu notre lieu de référence en Italie que nous fréquentons beaucoup. Son emplacement entre mer et petite montagne, le bon goût de la restauration de cet ancien pressoir ,le calme, les ressources de la région font que nous nous sentons chez nous ! et si l’on ajoute la charmante hospitalité des propriétaires…..nous n’avons pas les mots pour continuer.

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Fedrigo Orléans, France (Le Macine)

REVIEWED ON HOMEAWAY.COM