Persiceto Carnival

Officially established in 1874 and celebrated every year in February, the Historic Carnival owes its origins to the founding of the Società di Bertoldo, the first of the carnival societies that still compete against one another today during the parade of allegorical floats, accompanied by the traditional masks of Ocaròn, Santòn and Marcòn, and by the masked processions on foot. These are the days when the world is turned upside down, brought to life by the fierce competition between the float-builders, the secret efforts to create the most beautiful float, and pranks galore. The highlight of the first Sunday is the “Spillo”, the unique feature of the Persiceto Carnival: each float arriving in Piazza del Popolo “unfolds” and transforms, revealing its allegory. Ingenious mechanisms make new shapes, unprecedented colours, masks and characters appear as if by magic, dancing and performing a pantomime. The float becomes a stage, the square a theatre. Watching from above are King Bertoldo with his court, Queen Marcolfa and Bertoldino: portrayed in an ironic and burlesque light by the Persiceta writer Giulio Cesare Croce, the peasant with “big shoes and a sharp mind” expresses wit and irreverent mockery in direct, down-to-earth language and became the King of Carnival in the nineteenth century. Unofficial predictions about the results begin to circulate, the jury fends off rumours, and the tension reaches its peak on the final Sunday with the reading of the rankings, the presentation of the White Banner to the winners, and the handing over of the infamous black flag to the team that came last. This upside-down world draws to a close, only to return punctually next year!