Carnival Parade

Ok, let’s put it straight: the Carnival Parade in my hometown has nothing to share with the splendour of Italy’s more famous Carnival Parades such as the one taking place in Viareggio or even in the nearby Fano. And if the word ‘Carnival’ makes you want to fly to Rio de Janeiro or to New Orleans ‘Mardi Gras’, well, you shouldn’t bother to read any further.

However, if  the word ‘Carnevale’ makes you fly back to your childhood (my first costume was a cute Little Red Riding Hood which I kept wearing until it was totally worn out!); if it makes you think of the tenaciousness with which you tried to preserve that blue Fairy costume from the ravages of time (and today it is worn out anyway and is hunting you from within your bedroom closet knowing that you will never dare throw it away even if it looks as sad as sad can be); if it makes you think of your grandmother’s ‘castagnole‘ (the best fried Carnival cakes ever, even if it took them an hour to go from your mouth down to your stomach as they were fried in abundant lard)… well, then Pesaro Carnival is for you!

I took Costanza to the Carnival Parade yesterday afternoon, as my parents did with me and my sister when we were children. If it weren’t for the rite itself I probably would take my daughter to the Carnival in Fano, where the Floats are worth that name. However, there must be a reason if the Carnival in Pesaro is called ‘Il Carnevale dei Ragazzi’ (Children’s Carnival). It is a simple, carefree and naive festival, where the floats’ competition is among Pesaro Parish Churches (and relative neighbourhoods – having each neighbourhood its own Parish Church).

The ‘Carnevale dei Ragazzi’ is organized by the Municipality of Pesaro together with Pesaro Diocese; the names of the floats, often in local dialect, mirror a simple and genuine atmosphere. I could name them all but I fear that, if you are not from Pesaro, the list would sound pretty boring.

I’ll just tell you that the winner in the ‘Floats’ section was the Parish Church of Santa Veneranda with Super Mario (not too Italian, I fear) and that the winner in the ‘Parade’ section was the Parish Church of Madonna di Loreto with the musical instruments ‘Orchestrando’ (an homage to Pesaro: Gioachino Rossini’s birthplace?).

Costanza had fun and gathered some 50 candies. That made her day and the day of hundreds of children 🙂