Carnevale in Castelfranco Veneto

Carney, Carnival, Carnevale – what’s in a name?

A native of the USA, and never having studied Latin, I knew what the first two terms meant but never thought about their derivation.  They come from the words – carne – Latin for “meat”, and levare – “removal of”.  Carnevale, the Italian festival preceding the Christian period of Lent (where abstinence from meat is often practiced), is a days-long celebration characterized by dress-up and partying.

Costumes galore on the confetti-strewn Castelfranco street

We were able to observe Carnevale recently in Castelfranco Veneto with our good friend and bilingual Italian tour guide Rita. Not only was there an elaborate set of rides set up for the youngsters, but we enjoyed seeing young and old decked out in costumes. We found ourselves somewhere in the middle, snapping photos all around.

The young revelers climbed on the rides early while the older ones partied late into the night. While proud grandmothers showed off their little bees and bugs and tigers on Castelfranco’s confetti-strewn cobblestone streets:

It is four days of revelry, with traditions as hometown as any American Midwest Fourth of July. Including, in 2020, before the pandemic shut everything down, an appearance of the third runner-up in the Miss Italy 2019 (but the winner of Miss Smile 2019) competition. That’s about as cornball hometown as it gets!

The amusement park rides operated every day from 2:00 until 7:00.

On Saturday there is a parade of dozens of allegorical floats.

On Shrove Tuesday, the final day before Lent, where tradition dictates that pancakes be served, there is a“Best Pancake Contest” among the local bakeries.