Carnival, the festival of joy and masks, is just behind us. Carnival festivities are an ancient pagan celebration marking the transition from the cold winter to the vibrant spring. People wear scary masks to chase away the winter and the cold, and they are calling for spring. Carnival masks are also believed to bring good luck and good harvests, so today, it is still customary to welcome carnival masks into our homes š¤”šŗš½š
As I said before, Carnival is about chasing away winter, hunger, and evil spirits and attracting the good energies of spring, which bring sunshine, awaken nature, and promise abundance. Today, Carnival has evolved into a day for fooling around, merrymaking, and eating good food like the indispensable carnival donuts and flan doughnuts. It is the abundance that is supposed to mark Carnival time, although the word carnival comes from the Italian phrase 'carne leva', which literally means 'to leave the meat'. This then gave rise to the word carnival.
As a curious fact, Carnival falls on a different day every year. This festivity is movable and depends on Easter - Carnival Sunday is 7 weeks before Easter.
This is the day when we can become whoever we want to be. We put on a mask and assume the characteristics of our mask. It is the realm of disguise, it is a chance to break the rules of society, the chance to immerse ourselves in the spirit of mockery, and free ourselves from our daily routine, even if only for one day.
In the place where I leave, Carnival is a very serious affair, and people spend months in preparation. It all starts with brainstorming and finding the right and funny idea for what to represent. Then there is a quite long period of art work, from sewing the costumes to painting, creating models and accessories, and also constructing the carriages that the groups use for their performances and presentations. When all these are done, it is time for rehearsal of the choreography for the performance. And finally, the Carnival week-end arrives, and it is a long one š. After dailyperformances,s there are evening parties and celebrations.
In Slovenia, we divide masks into two categories. The first are carnival masks, through which people express their criticism of the current social and political situation, and the second are traditional masks, which, according to tradition, chase away winter and call for warmer days.
This year, we visited a carnival in the neighboring border town of Gorizia (Italy), where a large parade was organized with 10 carriages and 12 groups from nearby villages in Italy and Slovenia. The groups of masks were numerous, with more than 100 performers. I think it was a very busy day for the performers, as the route was very long and covered most of the city center. It was not just a walk through the city streets, but a proper dance performance with very elaborate dance choreographies performed all along the itinerary.
We were really impressed by the innovative ideas that created fantastic masques, and we could only imagine how much work was involved in the costumes and carriages.
Some of them impressed and amazed us with their funny ideas and concepts, others were real pieces of art. Certain groups were so large that we were overwhelmed by the multitude of figures that were dancing.
Each carnival proclaims the winning group. Iām not sure which group won first place in Gorizia, I think they were all great, and I would give a prize to everyone just because they brought so much joy to a sunny Saturday afternoon.
What do you think? Are you able to spot your preferred costume among my photos?
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