Column: it's carnival in Italy again!

What people often suffer from early in the morning, I have in the evening after eight o'clock. My brain is a little slow. So when my daughter shouts from her bed just before going to sleep: 'Oh, mom, Martina asked if I'm going to the carnival parade with her on Sunday. Is it allowed?' the first thought that comes to mind is: already carnival? That is very early this year. And then it only occurs to me that the carnival in Italy starts about 4 weeks before the party in the Netherlands.

Carnival in the south

And I like that Italian carnival. In the Netherlands I have never been such a real carnival-goer, despite my DNA that clearly comes from under the rivers. Watching the Grand Parade together on Sunday is really fun, with the occasional handful of confetti being sprinkled over you, while you hop along to the music blaring from the floats.

And I don't refuse a nice 'nonnevot' afterwards. I have no problem nipping at a herring or filling my jacket pockets with oranges when the party comes to a close. And for a crazy night of partying with family and friends, I'm also quite into it.

But not 3 days in a row. And it doesn't necessarily have to be every year. In fact, I don't feel like I've missed anything if I skip carnival for a few years. And when I think back, it's quite a long way back in history, the last time I participated.

The Italian Carnival

Carnival is celebrated in Italy in a different way. All the Dutch elements so familiar to me can be found here, albeit in a less compact and more dispersed form, both in terms of time and location. To see beautifully and very stylishly dressed people with beautiful masks, you of course go to the famous party in Venice that two 2 is celebrated for a long time.

The great parade in Viareggio is a well-known Italian carnival attraction that can be visited for 4 Sundays. And for the orange toss, head to Ivrea, near Turin, where battles take place around the Italian Carnival. And I don't really have to miss my nunnery. There are also all kinds of tasty specialties that are only available at this time of year.

Carnival in Italy: a children's party

Why then do I like the Italian Carnival so much? Because carnival here, at least in our area, is especially meant for children! As soon as the kids started to like dressing up, we were present at all children's carnival parades in the area, which are organized the four Sundays before the Dutch carnival starts.

Such a children's parade is anything but tedious for the dressed-up. No carts to just look at with the occasional attempt to catch a candy. No, participate yourself!

Climb yourself on one of the 4 or 5 cars, which drive very slowly one after the other on the village or town square. Relentlessly pelting everyone with confetti and streamers, jumping off the wagon again with a little help from mom or dad and then clambering onto another wagon and continuing to sprinkle. An afternoon flies by!

The best part about this is that we parents don't have to dress up. Wonderful, not looking for an original outfit or the blue farmhouse smock. No itchy wigs, smeared make-up and, as the evening progresses and you've had a drink, chattering people hanging around your shoulder.

On the morning after the party, we are only bothered by the confetti that you somehow encounter in the most crazy places in the house. A party hangover, pouting ears or a somewhat broke feeling are nowhere to be seen. Ideal, then, that carnival in Italy.

Little carnival-goers grow up…

But the time of clambering on carnival wagons is behind us. Today they are invited on a Sunday afternoon by friends to watch the parade together in Viareggio.

Throwing confetti around there, hopping along to the music to keep warm and having a lot of fun. Fantastic isn't it? My answer to my daughter's late question is therefore: 'Sure, dude, what time should I bring you?'. But there's no answer, she's already asleep. I've been thinking too long.