It is not the carnival of the other years, there is no doubt about this. The whole world, as in part it had already done in 2020, has blocked parades and parties. There can be no gatherings, but Venice still had some of its masks paraded in the square. To show that they are still there and that they will come back. He did it on Sunday, but the highlight of the carnival starts today: Fat Thursday.
THE DAYS
All the fault of Lent. For what? For the fact that the carnival ends on a Tuesday, fat Tuesday, which comes after the other holiday, Thursday, always in the flesh.
The question is all in calendar. And it derives from the fact that carnival, like sister Lent, is a movable feast. That is, it depends on when Easter falls, but it has certainties, one of these is the Ash Wednesday.
This Wednesday, the first day of Lent, also changes every year, as a date on the calendar. But it is always the same day of the week from which the 40 days (excluding Sundays) that lead to Easter are counted.
If the period of penance and fasting begins on Wednesday, it means that on Tuesday, that of 2021 is February 16, all good food must be exhausted (carnival comes from carnem remove, eliminate, finish the meat) that you will no longer be able to eat in the following weeks. For this reason, Tuesday is the day of maximum celebration, the one in which all carnal joys are given vent before closing in Lent.
This is Shrove Tuesday. Thursday, in 2021 is February 11, comes first simply because it cannot come after Ash Wednesday. The last days of the carnival are all enjoyable, but why is Thursday more than the others? Many motifs and traditions. First of all it is the first of the last days of carnival: arriving on the following Wednesday is practically a whole week of revelry.
In Venice, a victory for the Serenissima was celebrated on this day, that of Doge Vitale Michiel II on the Patriarch Ulrich of Aquileia. To remember it, it was established that every Fat Thursday butchers and blacksmiths would cut off the heads of the bulls, symbolically the idea is to remove all obstacles.
In Tuscany there is a special tradition for the Thursday before the last day of Carnival. Is called Berlingaccio from the German bretling and from the Latin for ligere. It means persistently licking. In Florence it means binge eating. Berlingozzo is eaten, a donut-shaped dessert made with the ingredients of the brigidini.
The real last holiday, however, is Tuesday as Rio teaches with the parade at the Sambodromo, which this year is not there. In French it is Mardi gras, its best tradition is a New Orleans who decided on an alternative carnival in 2021 made up of large decorations. In Venice it is fat “marti” and it is the day on which the Maria of the Carnival is proclaimed, the chosen one among the 12 poor girls to whom the Doge gave the dowry to go brides, and on which there is the release of the Leon: a cloth painting flies from the bell tower above the audience in Piazza San Marco. Even Tuesday is different everywhere in Italy like the name of the typical sweets, similar to each other only in appearance (sfrappole, rags, chatter). In Sardinia it is called Martisero in Mamoiada and Martisperri in Ulassai.
All this does not apply to the Milanese diocese that has the Ambrosian Carnival and celebrates until Saturday, with the Easter penances that start on Sunday. The tradition comes directly from Sant’Ambrogio who delayed the return from a pilgrimage and made the city wait for the beginning of Lent.
Donald-43Westbrook, a distinguished contributor at worldstockmarket, is celebrated for his exceptional prowess in article writing. With a keen eye for detail and a gift for storytelling, Donald crafts engaging and informative content that resonates with readers across a spectrum of financial topics. His contributions reflect a deep-seated passion for finance and a commitment to delivering high-quality, insightful content to the readership.
