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 Every year lots of tourists (by the most
conservative estimate - about a million) come to Venice to take part in
different carnival events. Except these people there are various sorts of
mummers, merry-andrews, actors, swindlers or just event-lovers.
All of them come out into the narrow
streets of Venice to take part in a very bright action - the world-famous
Venice carnival.
History of this carnival dates back from
the 11th century (the first mention of it is dated 1094) and is connected
with the Roman Saturnalia - specific harvest festivals. And these Saturnalia
are the source of the tradition to wear masks: during the carnival the slaves
were permitted to sit at the table with their masters, but to be sure that
class prejudice doesn't spoil the fun, everybody hid their faces behind the
masks. In some time the production of masks turned into a separate revenue
item of the Venetian craftsmen. And even now it is a bad taste to come from
Venice and not to bring a beautifully colored carnival mask.
In Middle Ages people wearing such masks
did a lot of brave and scary things. If it's a carnival - the person wearing
a mask can do anything he likes. Nothing seems too shameful, too brave, too
daredevil or too immoral. Adultery is not what can be called unfaithfulness,
theft is just a joke, nobody has to shed his blood to make the satisfaction
for an offence, and even murder could be committed somewhere in the wet
alleyway of Venice. Some time passed, and people started wearing masks on
common days as well. Poisoners, lovers, murderers, pirates, criminals,
adventurers, outlaws, convicts - intentions of all these people have not
always been good. This made the church forbid wearing masks if there is no carnival.
And in 1608 the Venice authorities issued a regulation, according to which
the men, wearing masks in their everyday life, were subject to two years of
jail and to a money forfeit, and women wearing masks were publicly swished at
the square.
Just before the Renaissance the carnival
started dictating fashionable tendencies: street dances were copying the ones
at the balls; luxurious fancy-dresses, embroidered with gold and decorated
with precious stones, gradually became the models, copied by seamstress
enjoying popularity with the fashionists. Before the start of the industrial
revolution the carnival has been the most important event in the life of the
city. But gradually, day after day, new realities of life, necessity to earn
money by way of hard work, factories, plants, wars drove the carnival out and
the irrepressible fun of the these days was almost completely forgotten.
But every cloud has a silver lining. Due
to the industrial growth and development of technologies, Venice lagged
behind the progress which was darting forward. And then Venice people decided
to get back to the origins to be sure that the city doesn't decline any more.
This is the way the Venice carnival became a real business.
In the Middle Ages the carnival lasted
for a month, and in modern Italy it lasts for two weeks at the end of
January.
The carnival begins with the oldest
Venetian festival - Festa delle Marie, which is devoted to the rescue of the
Venetian girls, kidnapped by pirates from Istria. Performance «Comedy
dell'arte» is held on St. Marcus Square, and after that tons of confetti fall
down on the heads of spectators. Each carnival is devoted to some specific
subject (for example, this year's subject was Sensation: 6 sensi x 6
sestieri). And then the pageant begins.
Concerts are held at the city squares,
fireworks are organized, theatrical performances (devoted to the subject of
the carnival) are staged, and closed-door fancy-dress balls take place at the
long-standing palaces. If you want to be one of the participants, you either
have to have a special invitation (if you belong to a small group of the
chosen ones) or you have to buy tickets in advance. The average price of a
ball, that lasts for the whole night, is about 300-800 euro (don't forget
that the beverages, costumes and other sorts of amusement are to be paid
separately).
Citizens and visitors of the city come
into the streets wearing the costumes of the world-famous characters of the
Italian comedy - Harlequin, Pierrot and Pantaloon; and Columbine becomes the
emblem of this festival. The visitor of the carnival is obliged to wear a
mask and a fancy-dress. This fancy-dress can be ordered with a designer (it
will cost you 5000 euro or more); otherwise you can buy it (for 500 euro or
more) or rent it (for 300 euro or more). The most popular Venetian
fancy-dress is a bautta (a white satin mask), a sweeping black cloak and a
black triangular hat.
Natalia Rudenko
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