CARNIVAL AT ACIREALE

Italian students tend not to believe me when I tell them that we do not, in Britain, have Carnevale as they know it. I do explain to them that we have Shrove Tuesday and that many people still observe Lent, but they continue to pity us for not having February Carnival and the fun that goes with it. It would only confuse them to say that we have processions known as Carnival at other times of the year, as for them Carnival takes place before Lent and that is that. If we look at the etymology of the word, we can hardly blame them: Carnevale - either a corruption of Italian carne levare, the withdrawal of meat or a joining together of Latin carne and vale, a farewell to meat. [As a linguist I favour the second theory.]

Despite the shaking of heads and mutterings of "Gente strana, gli Inglesi" ["Strange people, the English" - sorry, but even the Celts among us are Inglesi here] Modica has no real Carnival tradition. However, the catanese town of Acireale certainly does, so that is where I headed with Rosa and Fulvio yesterday. Indeed, the good citizens of Acireale, not to be outdone by the Venetians, hold their Carnival over two weeks as well and it is reputed to be the best in Sicily.

The floats are divided into three categories: allegorical, flower and miniature. The competition for best float in each of these takes place between the various cantieri [associations of artisans]. This Sunday it was the turn of the allegorical floats to be on show and eventually to parade. The tradition of allegorical floats began in fifteenth century Italy but not until the seventeenth century in Sicily. The tradition of using papier-mâché for these floats in Acireale began there in the nineteenth century.

Before making our way to Piazza Duomo to see the floats we went for a relaxing stroll in the park, from which you can gaze at the sea to your heart's content. My headdress is just what was needed to set off my new hairdo, don't you think?

Now I'll just let you enjoy looking at the floats, as we did, and I'll shut up, for a change, until you get to the end!






























Quite a feast for the eyes, wasn't it? I'm afraid there wasn't time to find out exactly what each float represented, though some are obvious. Several floats were already moving as I took the pictures. However, I can tell you that the float shown in the last three pictures was named Vorrei la pelle nera [I Want to be Black] a reference to Nino Ferrer's 1967 hit, an extraordinary song for its time. The float's theme was the plight of children born in less fortunate parts of the world than Western Europe.

Sabrina Marinangeli - La pelle nera


And now those of you who read to the end get to see the best photo of all: