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The Carnevale di Viareggio (Carnival of Viareggio) is a carnival event annually held in the beautiful city of Viareggio, in Tuscany, Italy. The event is one of the most renowned carnival celebrations in both Italy and Europe. The greatest and best-known part of the carnival are the enormous floats which are featured in the parades. This year, one of these floats was a massive whale designed to highlight the single-use plastic pollution of our oceans.
The Carnival of Viareggio was born in 1873. Back then, the first parade of festively decorated carriages took place in the historic Via Regia, the heart of the old town.
In the beginning of the twentieth century, the carnival procession was transferred from the historic center to the sea-side promenade in Viareggio.
Since then, it has grown in size and popularity with each passing year.
In fact, the Carnival of Viareggio is one of the most important Carnival events in all of Europe.
It has become famous for its parade of floats and masks, usually made of paper-pulp, often depicting caricatures of popular people, such as politicians, showmen and sportsmen.
The floats parading in Viareggio are renowned to be some of the biggest floats in the world. The largest ones tower 70 feet or 20 meters over the crowds and weigh up to 40 tons.
Nowadays, the parade is still held on the Viareggio promenade, the Passeggiata, located alongside the local beach.
Every year, this extraordinary event attracts more than 500’000 spectators.
If you ever manage to make your way there at the right time to see the parades, you’ll experience the marching bands, monumental allegorical floats, hundreds of expressive, colorful masks, and you’ll be able to enjoy watching the creative locals wearing a myriad of thematic costumes.
This year, one of the floats received special attention. It was made by artist Roberto Vanucci: a gigantic whale.
It is a profoundly important and heart-breaking piece of animatronic art, warning of the massive pollution in the oceans.
As the whale was slowly driven through the astounded masses at the carnival parade, it could be heard crying out because it was choking on single-use plastic waste in its mouth.
The message couldn’t have been clearer and stronger: In our greed and obliviousness, we are destroying our planet and the precious life that lives on it.
See a video feed of the magnificent whale at the carnival here on YouTube:
So, are you going next year? I am!
The Carnevale di Viareggio actually takes place over an entire month, with five days of processions each year. These are held on four Sundays and one on Fat Tuesday.
The parades take place between the end of January and beginning of March, in the four weeks that precede Lent (which is the forty-day period before Easter).
If you enjoy painting your face and dressing in costumes, you can also participate in the parade, showing off your costume, and feeling like much more than just a spectator.
If you’re on the more conservative side or don’t have the chance to arrive already dressed up, you can buy masks, wigs, hats and more to join in the fun (both before you go into the parade area as well as in the midst of it).
See you there for a one-of-a-kind experience!
Official Website Carnival di Viareggio
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Liam Klenk was born in Central Europe and has since lived on four continents. Liam has always been engaged in creative pursuits, ranging from photography and graphic design, to writing short stories and poetry, to working in theatre and shows. In 2016, Liam published his first book and memoir, 'Paralian'.
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