Ladin carnival 2015

The Carnival is the most characteristic cultural and folkloristic event of Val di Fassa; it is the beating heart of this small Ladin world whose colours and sounds are overwhelming. The Carnival is an ancient tradition relived year after year with the "Maschèredes" or comical performances featuring the most well-known traditional characters that that place in Penia. Here the celebrations and evening performances begin with the Festival of Saint Sebastian (Penia’s patron) on 19th January. But the Val di Fassa Carnival is above all a party, a chance to dress up, have fun and let go before the solemnity of Lent. The locals love dressing up, putting on masks and traditional costumes and making fun of others. Carnival is inborn in local popular culture displaying a vitality that is perhaps the most distinguishing element. There are also the famous wooden masks, "faceres", created by the valley’s most renowned sculptors and by many people passionate about intaglio. The masks represent a way of expressing themselves. The Carnival spirit is embodied in the vibrant hues of the multicoloured costumes of "Bufon" and "Laché", and in the wooden masks portraying the beautiful and the ugly, the good nad the evil, with just enough indifference to make fun without doing any harm.

From 17th January (on Saint Anthony’s Day, Alba’s patron) until Shrove Tuesday, the whole of the Val di Fassa is alive with fancy dress parades, open-air shows, theatrical performances and lively street parties like the fun one which is organised in Campitello.

Source: www.fassa.com