Origins of Carnevale
Carnevale (Carnival) takes place in the time before Lent begins.
The name “Carnevale” comes from the Latin words, carnem levare which means “to take away the meat” referring to the tradition of refraining from eating meat during the 6-week period of Lent from Ash Wednesday to Maundy Thursday.
As it is before a period of restrictions, Carnevale is traditionally a time for celebration and indulgence.
There are speculations that the origins of these festivities go back to ancient celebrations for the coming of Spring and ancient Greek and Roman celebrations for the gods, Bacchus and Saturn that were then adjusted to fit into the Catholic calendar.
Venice is known for its Carnevale celebrations with elaborate masks and costumes, but there were still exciting celebrations happening around Sorrento!
Celebrations in Sorrento
Last Tuesday, March 4th, 2025 there was a parade from Piazza Veniero to Piazza Lauro.
I was able to attend this parade, and although it was aimed towards children, it was still a fun experience.
There were familiar characters from movies and shows
I have seen or know of: some of these included characters from Jurassic Park, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Hello Kitty, Mario, and Inside Out.
Much of the parade was Safari themed, with Mickey Mouse characters in safari garb and cars decorated for a safari alongside many Lion King characters.
In addition to these characters, there were people on stilts, people doing tricks with hula hoops, a person juggling bowling pins, and a person balancing a sword on her head.
A group of musicians walked along the parade route playing saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and drums.
There was even an actual horse pulling a cart!
In the crowd there were many children dressed up in an array of costumes.
People had bags of confetti to throw and children chased each other with cans of silly string.
After the parade had gone by, the ground was covered in confetti and streamers and silly string.
Even the characters and vehicles in the parade ended up with silly string and confetti all over them.
When the parade was over, there were places set up in Piazza Lauro with different stations where the characters who were in the parade were standing so people could get their picture taken with them.
I got my picture taken with Hello Kitty as one of my friends really likes Hello Kitty.
I thought it would be fun to be able to send her a picture!
In addition to all of the characters available for pictures, there were vendors selling balloons, silly string, confetti, and candy.
There was a photography booth set up with different backgrounds to get professional pictures taken, which seemed like a great place to get pictures of your children in costumes.
A puppet show was set up and various performances were happening!
Unfortunately my limited knowledge of Italian did not help me understand anything of what was being said in the puppet show or spoken performances, but it was nice to see all the people, both children and adults, enjoying it.
This experience was an immersive way to see how Sorrento celebrates Carnevale and see so many members of the Sorrento community having a great time together.
I especially liked seeing all of the costumes the children were wearing, recognizing most of the characters they were dressed up as.
The feeling of excitement in the air spread to me, as I was surrounded by so many people who were having a fun time with friends, chasing after each other with silly string and confetti and being delighted at seeing characters they recognized in the parade.
It was an enjoyable time and I can definitely see how this tradition is a beloved one, especially by the children of Sorrento.
Ciao!
Justine