Viareggio Carnival
Passion, and a lot, is essential to face the preparation of the carnival chariots of Viareggio. But it is not enough: it takes imagination, poetry, technical knowledge and a lot of study. Masked parties have always been held in Viareggio, but only in 1873 a group of “good” guys from the city had the idea of floats inspired by political satire. Since then the tradition has never stopped, after the war, they even covered the rubble with some tarpaulins to not stop the parade. The party was poor, within reach of all the people; the chariots were built in wooden shacks that burned in the 60s and the structures were transported on the wagons of the transport of marbles pulled by two oxen. But now there are growth challenges, the budget has become important, public funding is needed. Before the movement was operated by hand and with a low technology a great show was offered. Today, a special citadel has been created, using the cast paper which, thanks to its lightness, allows handling. The wagon is a work of genius in which different disciplines converge, the cad is used and the modeling is done in 3D. The characteristic of these masks that are the largest in the world is gigantism (the first class wagons can reach 20 m in height) and therefore an engineering study is necessary to ensure safety. The old band has been replaced by amplifiers that transmit music at a very high volume. Each chariot is preceded by a choreography that helps the understanding of the subject.
This carnival can not be defined as folkloristic in the sense that it does not repeat itself in communicative forms, but evolves every year. The important thing is that everyone’s party remains, there is no hierarchy: the public participates without barriers.
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