CARNIVAL OF VIAREGGIO (Italy): 130 years of history told by the satire of the allegorical floats

On 1874, in one allegorical procession of masks of the Carnival of Viareggio, appeared the mask of the local tax official pursued by a crowd of angry citizens armed with cudgels. The tax official Alfonso Piatti, this was his name, did not liked it at all, and made an impeachment for offence to a public official.
The following year another procession of masks derided the town-council representing the mayor with a pumpkin in place of the head, the councillor to the police as a dog and the councillor to the culture as a donkey: the police intervened and denounced everybody for public defamation of the institutions.
All this shows what the Carnival of Viareggio and its people are. The people of Viareggio are seamen, workers, craftsmen and merchants. Industrious persons who do not like abuses and have no fear to express themselves although it could be not convenient or also dangerous.
So the people of Viareggio have gone on to criticized the national and international politic power by the Carnival's allegorical floats and processions of masks and to show in a satirical and funny way, the politic, social, scientific and economic problems of Italy and of the rest of the word.
The huge allegorical floats joke about political and important persons, but having fun, they invite people to think about the events that affect our society and our age.
To skim trough the designs of the Carnival of Viareggio, it is just like running through again 130 years of the history of Italy and of the world.

To know more:
www.viareggio.ilcarnevale.com

Reportage: 60 photos on CD-Rom