The Ivrea Carnival

Hello Everyone!

So yesterday, on Tuesday March 8th, 2011 I had one of the funnest experiences of my entire life. I had the opportunity to visit the Ivrea carnival. This trip was organized by my study abroad program and it was just a day trip since the town of Ivrea was only about an hour train ride away. I had seen videos of what the carnival was like, but I still wasn't exactly sure what to expect so I was kind of anxious. There is a lot of history behind this small town's carnival and it basically started in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. But the main event of this carnival is an absolutely MASSIVE orange battle the takes place over the course of five days! This dates back to the middle of the nineteenth century when beans were originally used because "twice a year the feudal lord gave a pot of beans to the poor families who, out of disrespect, threw them into the streets. The same pulses were also used at carnival as fun ammunition to be thrown at the backs of unsuspecting adversaries. Around the thirties and sixties of last century, girls started to throw some oranges from their balconies onto the parade carriages together with confetti, lupins and flowers. The targets of these were the boys by whom the girls wanted to be noticed. From the carriages the boys started to answer in kind and little by little, the gesture of homage became first a duel and then a real fight between the throwers on the balconies and those in the streets. Only after the Second World War did the battle become the present contest following fixed rules." (There's a nice history lesson for you).

So, we took a train and got to Ivrea at around noon. We talked towards the city center and had time to eat because the battles started at around 2pm. After walking around the heart of the town you can definitely get an idea of how serious this battle was going to be. Tuesday was the last day of the 5 day-long battles and I was told that there was over 100 people hospitalized on Sunday! (the craziest day). So needless to say I was a little nervous. The way it's organized is there are basically 9 teams, each team is located in one of the several piazzas in the town, with most of the time multiple teams in one piazza. Now, to be on an official team you need to pay 100 euros and you get a uniform and you get to take from the large orange pile on the side of the piazza. You also get free food and drinks during the carnival events which is nice, and this is for all five days. But we did not have to pay this because you can still participate without being on a team, but you obviously don't get a uniform and you can only use the oranges from the ground and of course no free food or drinks. So, the teams are spread out throughout the piazza and when the carnival starts, there are carriages  of the other teams being pulled by horse that go through the piazza. On these carriages are members of the other teams who are covered in armor and wearing helmets. The point is to basically hit these guys as much as you can and as hard as you can as they are being pulled around on their carriage throughout the piazza. Now these guys also have oranges, a lot of oranges, and there's about 8 of them per carriage. So they are constantly throwing oranges at everyone else in the piazza, while everyone else is throwing oranges at them. Also, if you are wearing red, they cannot hit you, and there are also nets on the side of the piazza where people can stand behind if they do not want to participate. So I bought a small red bandana to whip out just in case it got too intense haha. And if you are a person in the piazza, and you start hitting people that are not in the carriage, then everyone else starts hitting you, even if you're on another team, so DONT DO IT haha. And if you want to be one of the guys on the carriage, then you have to pay 500 euros! 

So 2pm was approaching and we were in one of the piazzas with multiple teams. There were two teams in this one and at the beginning there was a cool parade-like presentation and then the carriage carrying the "Vezzosa Mugnaia," or the heroine of the carnival, was brought throughout the piazza, throwing flowers in the crowd as everyone cheered for her. There's a reason why people cheer for her too, she pays around 80,000 euros! So she basically pays for the whole carnival to take place! That was really neat, and as the parade ended, the carriages came out and the battle began. And OH MY GOD this was crazy. The first two carriages came out and oranges started flying everywhere. I could not believe it and I immediately grabbed the first orange I saw and started throwing, trying not to get hit and trying to hit the guys on the carriage. This was absolutely insane and after the first two carriages went through, there was a 3-5 minute break before the next ones came so we decided to go to one of the more intense piazzas to meet up with one of our program coordinators, Daniele, who comes here every year and says this is the funnest place to go during the battles. This was a much smaller piazza with a bridge leading up to it so you can tell you were a lot more vulnerable here. Once we got there, the carriages were on our way and we stood on the bridge. Once they came we started to throw as many oranges as we could. I was relatively clean for about the first hour (by the way, the battles didn't end until about 5:30 so they went on for over 3 hours!) but after that people decided to squeeze some oraanges over my head and get me covered haha. We also got "baptized" which is when we got down on our knees as people threw 9 oranges straight at us point blank and I gotta say, those things hurt! After that I got a little more confident and worked my way up to the walls of the carriage and unleashed. It was so much fun and I did this for the rest of the battles. There a couple headshots I received and one of them got me in the eye which definitely hurt but I guess it's all part of the experience haha. Anyways, like I said, it was definitely one of the funnest times of my entire life and I swear, I had never seen, and will never see, so many oranges in one place.  

I could not believe it. By the end of the battles I was nearly up to my shins in orange peels, and I was absolutely covered haha. At the very end, there was a point where everyone got down on the goround and they were pretty much swimming in orange peels haha. It was awesome, and after the battles there was a larger parade which was really neat. And again, the Magnaia would pass through and everyone would cheer her name. But I think the best part of the parade was something Daniele pointed out. Not one orange was thrown during the parade because people respected the rules, and they respected the tradition behind this event, and that is something that I loved the most about the carnival. It's so rich in tradition, and everyone who participates has so much respect for it. Honestly, this carnival made Venice look like nothing, and again, I am so thankful to have had this experience of authentic Italian culture and tradition and this is one event that I would be willing to visit each year, bringing as many friends as I can because this is something that NEEDS TO BE EXPERIENCED. After all, Daniele even has friends from America that come all the way here each year just to participate. It was truly an incredible experience that I will never forget and I'm so glad I went. Check the pics on Facebook!

Ciao!