Giant papier-mâché floats parading along the seafront
Born in 1873, the Carnevale di Viareggio is one of the most famous in Europe. Its stars are the allegorical floats: papier-mâché giants up to twenty metres high, built over months in the hangars of the Cittadella del Carnevale, which move their heads, arms and eyes while satirising politicians, celebrities and the vices of the age.
The parades, the corsi mascherati, run along the seafront avenues on several Saturdays and Sundays between January and March, with music, masked groups and confetti. Burlamacco, the city's carnival mask created in 1930, is its symbol. In the evenings the city districts hold their own rione parties.
Tip: the Cittadella del Carnevale has a museum and workshops you can visit all year round, a good way to see how the floats are made.
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