When looking for a time to completely give in to pleasure, passion, folly, and fun, February is definitely the month to choose.
Also known as Shrovetide, this festivity comes from quite ancient European traditions, like the Roman Saturnalia or even the Dionysian from Greece, but in my home country it is simply known as Carnevale. The main objective of this grand party is to defy social norms, and, long ago, during these ceremonies, people didn’t need to respect their obligations at all. Patricians and plebeians, women and slaves—everyone was granted to take part and be utterly free; temporarily, of course, but nevertheless on the loose. The majority of beliefs about the origins of Shrovetide are speculations, but what we can state for certain is that it was held during winter, probably as the cold season began, and that it is rooted in paganism. However, what we see around the world nowadays is a Carnival that, rather than coming from paganism, comes from Catholic traditions. Like most of the subjects in my blog, the Church adopted the fête of Shrovetide, which, from the start of winter, moved along with the calendar, stretching to January (after the Epiphany on the 6th) and then February, right before Lent begins. The latter is a period of fasting, a religious observance that commemorates the 40 days Jesus spent without food in the desert, persisting through the constant devil’s temptations.
Therefore, if we put all these elements together—the madness and refuse of ordinary manners, plus the grieving weeks and refraining from eating anything before Easter—we finally come up with our contemporary Carnevale. Furthermore, its very own name, which comes from the Latin words carne and vale and means exactly “farewell to meat”, proves it even more, signifying that pleasure is found, not only in food, but in flesh as well. Shrovetide was therefore the precise time to act like a fool, enjoy the fattest of meals, overindulge in every aspect of life, and fall into raw desires before everything was taken away during Lent.
It falls on the day before Ash Wednesday, called Fat Tuesday, or, better, Martedì Grasso, and this wonderful festivity is nowadays celebrated in various countries and cities all over the world. Like France, Rio, New Orleans, Trinidad, and especially the Italian peninsula. Everyone has indeed different, sometimes extremely diverse, ways of honouring Carnevale. However, the common themes of this enchanting period of our year are the merrymaking, huge parades, masquerade balls, lots of music, dancing, and roistering in the streets.
If you’re thinking that this frivolous jollity kind of sounds like a certain Halloween, it’s because they are in fact quite similar. Perhaps not in the motives, but for the dressing up, the costumes, and doing pranks, they definitely seem alike.
As a matter of fact, when I was younger, All Hallow’s Eve was not much celebrated in my home country. I grew up mainly with Shrovetide, and once I delved more into the Irish and American jamboree, the first thing that popped into my mind was how Halloween appeared to me as more of a darker version of the Italian Carnival. Nonetheless, I love and enjoy them both, pleasuring myself with the chance to hide my identity and forget who I am twice a year.
For the costumes, it was during the Middle Ages that masks were introduced, allowing anyone to—let’s say—put a veil on their social class and standing, locking it away until Shrovetide came to an end. Mask makers still very much exist, revered for their beautiful and detailed artistry; the tradition of costumes, however, originated in the 13th century. Venetians, in particular, would conceal their identity with intricate masks. Aristocrats and peasants would lose their status and merge with one another, indulging in love affairs, gambling, dancing, and dangerous and illicit activities as well.
The Italian culture has lots of extremely famous characters and masks that were respectively played and used during Carnevale. Some of the most adored ones are, for example, Gnaga—often worn by men to represent a woman, consisting of catlike features—Arlecchino—a mischievous character associated with demons, in English ‘Harlequin’, and with a costume composed of differently coloured patches and rags—and Columbina—a half mask with gold, silver, jewels, and feathers, held up to the face with a baton.
Shrovetide never lacks sweets as well. Lots of delicacies, from north to south, are typically fried and incredibly mouth-watering, like the Chiacchiere (my favourite), strips of fried dough dusted in powdered sugar.
No single way is the ultimate best to celebrate Carnevale; in fact, in my dear Italy, every region and even city parties in its own manner. The most popular one is held in Venice, with grand parades both on water and land, but we also have Viareggio and Putignano, with their huge floats of papier-mâché, and Ivrea, with its famous Battle of the Oranges, and many others.
I really do hope that, if you have yet to participate in a Shrovetide, dear reader, you’ll be able to enjoy it soon, because—believe me when I tell you—it’s an experience not to be missed.
You’re going to have fun, find pleasure in both food and flesh, and become a little mad, kind of like Alice in Wonderland, for as the saying goes, “A Carnevale ogni scherzo vale.”
Which means, beware, my friend, because during Carnival everything is fair game.
Up, Carnival in Rome by José Benlliure y Gil (1879)
Sources:
History of Carnevale and Italy’s best Parades
A Brief History of How Carnival Is Celebrated Around the World
Le Maschere del Teatro e della Commedia dell’Arte
Le Maschere di Carnevale Italiane (e da dove vengono i loro nomi)
My family’s expertise
The Library of the Unseen 
Penny for your thoughts…