NEW YEAR’S DAY • The month of the January starts welcoming the new year. Like the other countries in the world, Italy too has its own original way to celebrate this new start. On New Year’s Eve it is tradition to throw old things away. So that, it is rather dangerous to walk at night time, because you can be easily hit by old plates or flying glasses. As a good luck charm we wear red underwear and eat a dish of lentils. The new year is welcomed by impressive fireworks, balls and concerts in the cities squares and the traditional toast with champagne at midnight.
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NEW YEAR’S DAY• The month of the January starts welcoming the new year. Like the
other countries in the world, Italy too has its own original way to celebrate this new start. On New Year’s Eve it is tradition to throw old things away. So that, it is rather dangerous to walk at night time, because you can be easily hit by old plates or flying glasses. As a good luck charm we wear red underwear and eat a dish of lentils. The new year is welcomed by impressive fireworks, balls and concerts in the cities squares and the traditional toast with
champagne at midnight.
EPIPHANY• Epiphany, on 6th January of the new year, is also a very important festival
in our country. It traditionally marks the end of the festive time, when the Christmas tree and the Crib, which are traditionally made the 8th of December, are unmade and schools reopen. But the Epiphany has also a more important meaning. For centuries, the typical character of the Epiphany, la Befana, replaced the figure of Santa Klaus or Father Christmas, who is quite recent in Italy. In fact in the night between the 5th and 6th January , “Befana”, an ugly, old woman, is supposed to bring presents to children riding a broom and carrying a really heavy bag. Flying on her broom in the winter sky , she slides down the chimneys and fills the stockings that children put on the fireplace with sweets and toys. The tradition wants that she gives sweets and toys to the good children and coal to the bad ones.
CARNIVALCarnival is a festival that is celebrated in all the countries of Catholic tradition.
The word carnival comes from the Latin " carnem upbeat " (" eliminate meat " ) and originally it
indicated the banquet that was held on the last day of Carnival ( Mardi Gras ), immediately before the
period of fasting and abstinence of Lent. The celebrations, which start on 17th January to
culminate in the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday (the so-called Fat Tuesday), consist of public parades
where the distinctive and characteristic feature is the custom of masking.
In Italy Carnival is celebrated all over the country, from the biggest cities to the smallest villages. Everywhere we can find long parades of people
disguised in the most unusual and original ways. However some cities can boast festivals known all
over the world for their originality and special effects as well as for the tribute to the tradition.
The Carnival of Viareggio originated in 1873 and it is one of the most important and most popular carnivals in the world. It is usually held on all Sundays from January to February and it is made up of floats of different dimensions, full of huge papier-mâché, caricatures of famous men/women, politicians, intellectuals or people from the world of entertainment , whose characteristic traits, especially the somatic, are highlighted with satire and irony.
The Carnival of Venice is known for the beauty of the costumes , the pageantry of the festivities in the magical atmosphere of the lagoon and consists of several full days of exhibitions of various kind : art exhibitions, fashion shows , theater performances, etc. .
The Historic Carnival of Ivrea is one of the oldest and original carnivals in the world, whose origins dated back in centuries. It is famous for its spectacular climax, the so-called, Battle of the Oranges. In it is represented in the form of allegory , the revolt of the citizens from the tyrant of the city, probably Ranieri Biandrate , killed by Mugnaia which was preparing to exercise the Droit de seigneur. It was that event to caused the civil war represented by the battle between the people and the royal troops which is commemorated during the carnival , where teams of orange-throwers on foot ( ie the people) defend their squares by aranceri carts (ie the ' army ) with strokes of orange to represent the arrows , while parading through the streets of the city , the procession of Mugnaia throwing sweets and gifts to the population.
Even in Basilicata there are different traditions related to Carnival. In the fascist period, the writer and painter Carlo Levi in the small town of Aliano was the first to examine our way to celebrate it and the manifold meanings attached to it in his well-book "Christ Stopped at Eboli”.In fact, the masks carried out at carnival time are taken from the world of nature and represent grotesque and diabolical animal figures. Leather belts, bells and various garments related to our tradition, characterize these bizarre costumes against the striking backdrop of the Lucan Badlands.
VALENTINE’S DAYThe celebration of Valentine's Day has replaced in the Christian Age the Roman Lupercalia, celebrated on February 15th ; these rituals , however, were dedicated to fertility and not to romantic love. In 496 Pope Gelasius I dedicated the 14 February to the saint and martyr Saint Valentine.There is no doubt , however, that in mid-February, we can encounter the first signs of awakening of nature and in the Middle Ages , particularly in France and England, it was believed that on that date the mating of the birds began and then the event lent itself to consider this the party of lovers.While it is still uncertain the historical evolution of the anniversary,there are some historical references that suggest that Valentine's Day was dedicated to lovers since the early centuries of the second millennium. Among them, there is the foundation in Paris, on February 14th, 1400, of ' "High Court of Love" , an institution based on the principles of courtly love . The court was intended to decide on disputes relating to contracts of love , betrayal , and violence against women. The judges were selected based on their familiarity with the poetry of love.
WOMAN’S DAY Woman’s day is celebrated on 8th March. The official date of this festivity was 28th February 1909 in the USA. It was established by the Socialist Party, which in this date organized the first great manifestation in favour of the extension of the Universal Suffrage. But the festivity became well established in the 1911, when in a New York factory, the Triangle, a fire devoleped and 146 women, most of them immigrants, lost their lives. From this moment on, manifestations in favour of women spread throughout all Europe and in Italy the 8th of March is dedicated to women. In this day some female conquests such as divorce, contraception and the legalization of abortion,are also symbolically recalled.
SAINT JOSEPH’S DAY AND FATHER’S
DAY
In March Saint Joseph and Father day are both celebrated on 19th. This because Saint Joseph is usually assumed as a model father and a devotee husband. Moreover, according to the tradition, the Saint also protects orphans, young unmarried women and poor people. For this reason in Sicily, the poor are usually invited at lunch in this day. In other areas of Italy the feast coincides with the end of the winter: as a ritual in some places huge bonfires are made as to declare the end of the cold season and the rebirth of nature.This double feast has its own sweet, zeppole. These are a sort of krapfen usually stuffed with custard and topped with cherries put in syrup and a sprinkle of icing sugar. Zeppole can be fried or baked in the oven.
EASTER Easter is the principal feast of Christianity. It celebrates the resurrection of Jesus that, according to the Scriptures, took place on the third day after his death on the cross. The date of Easter varies from year to year according to the lunar cycles and it, also, determines the rate of other celebrations and liturgical seasons, such as Lent and Pentecost. At Easter there is the habit of giving chocolate eggs. At the beginning there were given real eggs, with colorful shell, meaning rebirth, and the reset of life. Only later these were replaced by chocolate eggs, that still continue to maintain the original, symbolic meaning.
LIBERATION DAYOn the 25th April of each year in Italy is celebrated the Liberation day, when the country was freed by the Fascist dictatorship and a new era was inaugurated.Conventionally, this date was chosen because it was the day of the liberation of Milan and Turin. In particular, on April 25th, 1945 the Executive Committee of National Liberation of Upper Italy chaired by Luigi Longo, Emilio Sereni, Sandro Pertini and Valiani ( present , among others, Rodolfo Morandi - who was appointed chairman of the CLNAI - Justin Arpesani Marazza and Achilles ), at 8 am on the radio officially proclaimed the insurrection, the jack of all powers by the CLNAI and the death sentence for all the fascist leaders ( including Mussolini, who would have been reached and shot three days later ).The Liberation put an end to twenty years of fascist dictatorship and five years of war; it symbolically represents the beginning of the historic journey that will lead to the referendum of 2nd June 1946 for the choice between monarchy and republic, then the birth the Italian Republic, until the final draft of the Constitution.
MOTHER’S DAYMother’s day is usually celebrated the second Sunday of May. Its origins dated back to the Fifties, when from the idea of celebrating the maternal figure, not only in her biological and social role, but in her religious was quickly spread .This festivity is usually celebrated at home and all mums are usually given enormous bunches of flowers, roses in particular, and boxes of chocolate.
REPUBLIC DAYOn June 2nd, in Italy there is a special festival to celebrate the birth of the nation. In fact, after the fall of Fascism, on 2nd and 3rd June 1946 an institutional referendum was held, to make the Italians choose their favorite form of government, monarchy or republic, to give the country. So, after 85 years of monarchy, with 12,718,641 votes against 10,718,502, Italy became a republic and the monarchs of the House of Savoy were exiled. This festival is similar to the French July 14th (the anniversary of
the storming of the Bastille ), and the American July 4th U.S. (the day on which in 1776 was signed the Declaration of Independence ) .All over the world, Italian embassies hold a celebration where all the Heads of State of the host country are invited. In Italy, wishes from the other Heads of State come to the President of the Italian Republic while Special official ceremonies are held.
MID-AUGUST Mid-August is a holiday which falls on 15th August in conjunction with the celebration of the Assumption of Virgin Mary. The term derives from the Latin “feriae Augusti” ( Augustus rest ) and indicates a feast instituted by the Emperor Augustus in. It was added to the existing and ancient holidays falling in the same month, as the Vinalia rustic or Consualia, to celebrate the harvest and the end of the main agricultural work.
CHRISTMAS• In Italy, just like in all countries around the
world, Christmas is undoubtedly the most important festivity of the year. Everyone, Catholic or not lives the same magical atmosphere and shares the same spirit of peace and joy during the days before 25th December.
