Carnevale, Viareggio

15th February 2020

After returning from the UK, where I spent an enjoyable Christmas and New Year with children and grandchildren, I settled back down to life in Lucca. It was a time of reflection and the decision was made to look at other apartments in Lucca with a view to relocating sometime this year.

Meanwhile, when Jan had arrived from the UK, we joined our friends in Lucca for a visit to the annual carnival held in Viareggio. In the group of ten, we had organised a lunch at a restaurant not far from the carnival’s route. A very convivial few hours were spent enjoying traditional Italian pastas such spaghetti vongole (spaghetti with clams) and other seafood dishes found readily available in many restaurants along Tuscany’s coastal towns. Needless to say, an enjoyable amount of Italian wine along with the usual Aperol Spritz, Grappa and Limoncello was consumed, leaving us all in a relaxed mood to enjoy the carnival now that dusk had descended with Viareggio’s famous sunset.

The weather was kind to us this year with a bright sunny afternoon, beautiful sunset and yet another fantastic set of floats. Every year famous personalities are mocked satirically and with sharp humour, particularly such political figures as Silvio Berlusconi and Donald Trump. Other huge constructions are of fantasy figures such as mermaids, ghosts, whilst others are from pop culture with dancing displayed by exotic costumes and loud music.

Although many floats appeal to a more adult humour, others are aimed at a much younger audience, so the carnival caters from an enjoyable day out for the whole family.

Even though most of the hotels were full at this busy time in Viareggio, Tom, who likes to take photographs of the carnival from unusual viewpoints, managed to persuade one hotel directly on the seafront to allow us all access to its rooftop balcony. From this exceptional location we had an uninterrupted view of the whole parade with the added delight of ordering more refreshments.

Viareggio’s carnival began in 1873 when the first parades were held in the streets of the old town. The parades were transferred to the promenade as they grew in popularity during the early 20th Century. The iconic masked figure of Burlamacco was designed by Uberto Bonetti (1909-1993) born in Viareggio. Bonetti studied at the Academy of Fine arts in Lucca under the tutelage of the painter, engraver, writer and poet Lorenzo Viani (1882-1936) also from Viareggio. Viani mixed with fellow painters such as Plinio Nomellini (1866-1943) from Livorno and national celebrities such as Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) and Gabriele D’Annunzio (1863-1938).   

Bonetti’s Burlamacco design

Uberto Bonetti’s Burlamacco design is based on Arlecchino or Harlequin servant character from the centuries-old Commedia dell’arte, a popular and highly influential form of Italian comedy theatre throughout Europe since the 16th Century.

After the WWII, the newly formed RAI used the carnival for one its first outside broadcasts boosting the carnival’s popularity which nowadays is the largest folk event in Italy with annual budgets running into several millions per year. In 2001 the new Cittadella del Carnevale was inaugurated, an architectural complex comprising a museum and sixteen large hangers ‘entirely dedicated to the creation and preservation of the carnival’. Many of the huge effigy creations are made purely of papier – mâché whilst others are composed of plaster on gigantic iron frames.

The carnival extends over several weekends during February and this was lucky to escape the ‘lock-down’ that was about to happen in early March 2020