For the past few weeks Italian towns have been taken over by revellers in costume, spectacular street parades and merchant stalls selling every kind of Italian delicacy.The official date of 'Carnevale' this year was the 5th March which is the traditional 40 days before Easter, however many towns were celebrating long before that!
Carnevale is the final celebration before the restrictions of Lent - in fact the term is widely recognised as originating from the Latin words 'carnem levare' or 'take away the meat'.
The festival itself is thought to have derived from the ancient Roman 'baccanali', celebrations during which drunken revellers would walk around the city with their faces painted whilst singing, yelling and performing pranks.
Tricks and pranks are still an integral part of Carnevale, hence the saying 'a carnevale ogni scherzo vale', meaning that during carnival time any kind of mischief can be expected! The 'Carnevale di Misterbianco' is famous for its wonderful costumes such as that in the image below - modelled on an underwater wonderland!
P.S We've introduced a BRAND NEW payment plan into our 'Sicilian Connections: Discover Your Heritage' online course which starts on Monday! We want to make it as easy as possible for you to join us in this exciting 2 week program and start diving into your Sicilian heritage. Head over to>> Sicilian Connections: Discover Your Heritage now to check out the new payment options.
The private Facebook group is already open and we've had so many members share their wonderful Sicilian stories with us already.
Carnival time is here again amici miei! :-) Italian towns have been taken over by revellers in costume, spectacular street parades and merchant stalls selling every kind of Italian delicacy. The official date of 'Carnevale' this year is the 21st February which is the traditional 40 days before Easter, however many towns have been celebrating for weeks already. Carnevale is the final celebration before the restrictions of Lent - in fact the term is widely recognised as originating from the Latin words 'carnem levare' or 'take away the meat'.
The festival itself is thought to have derived from the ancient Roman 'baccanali', celebrations during which drunken revellers would walk around the city with their faces painted whilst singing, yelling and performing pranks. Tricks and pranks are still an integral part of Carnevale, hence the saying 'a carnevale ogni scherzo vale', meaning that during carnival time any kind of mischief can be expected! The 'Carnevale di Misterbianco' is famous for its wonderful costumes such as that in the image below - modelled on the Amazon Rainforest!
