La Spezia, La Spezia Carnival 2024. The tradition continues... since 1869

Sunday February 11 The La Spezia Carnival, which has been celebrated since 1869, returns to the city. The Carnival of La Spezia, in fact, is one of the oldest in Italy and this year too it will liven up the city with parades and initiatives to the delight of especially the little ones. The initiative is part of the path strongly desired by the Peracchini Administration of rebirth and rediscovery of our most ancient traditions which represent a strong element of identity. The initiative was presented this morning at Palazzo Civico by the Mayor of La Spezia Pierluigi Peracchini, the councilor for the City of Children Daniela Carli and the Councilor for Educational Services Lorenzo Brogi. Present were the communities, the neighborhoods, the representatives of the city associations that contributed to the realization of the event, the municipal schools, the Civic Playground, the dance schools: My Way Dance Academy and Arcimboldo.

“The La Spezia Carnival is a highly anticipated event for adults and children – declares the Mayor of La Spezia Pierluigi Peracchini – a century-old tradition full of joy and light-heartedness which this year too will offer many opportunities for fun with events designed for everyone. In recent years we have worked to carry forward the objective of rediscovering our cultural roots, also starting from the recovery of centenary events just like our historic carnival. I thank all those who are working towards the success of the initiative and I invite all citizens to participate."

“Sunday will be a big party dedicated to the fun of adults and children – explained Councilor Carli – as promised to the citizens in 2023, we have resumed the traditional parade involving all the realities of our city"

The La Spezia carnival was born in 1869 and has older origins than that of Viareggio whose birth dates back to 1873. The 'Carlevà dea Spèza' has two symbolic masks, the Batiston, with next to him the figure of Maià, his wife, daughter of King Carnevale, who also became it is the emblem of the La Spezia celebration.

The day will begin at 10 am in Piazza Brin where the Carnival village will be set up and where the little ones will be able to try their hand at old-fashioned games and watch the show with the bubble magician. From 10am to 13pm it will be possible to register for free in the competition for the most beautiful mask. At 14.30pm from Piazza Brin the parade will start and reach Piazza Verdi where the party will continue. The procession of masks will parade throughout the city and will be made up of floats and masks from each city neighborhood, from the various communities that live in the city.

The three municipal nursery schools will also parade at the Carnival “Enchanted Castle” (2 June) “Pratoverde” (Chiappa) and Peterpan (via di Monale) with the following themes that reflect the annual planning and teaching path:

• theme “Our city”
• Enchanted Castle nursery school;
• environmental theme “With our feet on the ground and our heads in the clouds”: discovering the earth - Pratoverde nursery school;
• inclusion theme: “Elmer, the colorful elephant” - Peterpan nursery school.

The families were involved in the construction of the costumes girls and boys will wear, during afternoon workshops in the presence of the teachers.

The children of the Civic Ludoteca will also participate in the parade and will develop the theme “The Palio del Golfo”. The costumes were prepared during the afternoon opening meetings of the playroom, involving the children present.

The 2024 edition of the Spezzino Carnival is an inter-council organization, in collaboration with the Associations: ProSpezia Ciassa Brin, Dominican Community, Ukrainian Community, Albanian Community, Moroccan Community, Colombia Community, Romania Community, Bangladesh Community, I Giochi di Once Association, Nasi Uniti, Tandem Association, Association Unpublished, Banda Puccini and the three dance schools Dancing Project, My Way Dance Academy, Arcimboldo.