Carnival in the Dolomites, unusual and distinctive, with wooden masks sporting large moustaches, cowbells, sorghum brooms and deeply rooted village traditions, is a festival keenly felt in these parts.
Between floats, shows, dances, wooden masks, allegorical figures in old costumes — sometimes colourful, sometimes monstrous — roaming the streets of the wonderful mountain villages and lending a special charm to the cold winter atmosphere of these places, you really cannot leave your camera at home.
You can capture the Zinghénesta, the most beautiful girl in the village and the female symbol of Dolomite carnival. Every year in Canale d’Agordo, “La Zinghenesta, Carnevàl de Canàl” is held: a square festival with dances and folklore, a tradition handed down for generations, featuring parades of wooden masks and various characters, in which the Zinghénesta dances alongside her admirers and other traditional figures. The date is always the last Sunday of carnival.
And then, in Fornesighe, there is the Gnaga, the wrinkled old woman who wanders through the village, hobbling along and carrying a cheeky young lad on her shoulders, followed by a procession of traditional masks: the musicians, the bride and groom, the ampezana. All this while, along the lit-up streets of the small village perched on a ridge, craftsmen carve the wooden masks for the wooden-face competition, and outside the old dairy, tourists and locals mingle, strolling and warming up with excellent mulled wine while enjoying the wonderful view over Tamer, San Sebastiano and Spiz di Mezzodì.
Today’s Gnaga is born of a long tradition that originated in 1897 on the initiative of Valentino Toldo, known as “Nin di Rosa”, who drew inspiration from romantic Swiss traditions in the country to which he had emigrated. Taking his young son from the cradle, he was the first, together with a group of friends, to walk through the streets of the small village — a walk that would later be repeated by conscripts and grow into today’s large procession… …the “Gnaga”!
For the Gnaga 2019 weekend, all the typical Dolomite masks will be on show, to be admired on 2 and 3 February 2019 during the Competition of Wooden Faces of the mountain carnivals, at the end of which the most beautiful figure is chosen and the “death of Carnival” is then declared.
Then there are the Rollàte, the emblem of the Sappada Carnival (Plodar Vosenòcht), gruff big fellows covered in thick bear furs and striped convict-style trousers, who parade along the streets of the town centre throughout the whole carnival period, from 24 January to 7 February.
Carnival in the Dolomites is deeply felt, and is often a cultural occasion during which one can admire true works of art and craftsmanship, hand-carved masterpieces that accompany the masks in the long and boisterous carnival processions.
Even the ski slopes, during this period, are frequented by people in costume, who ski down the valley with a torch in hand, in Sesto or San Candido for example. You might even come across Princess Sissi and Franz Josef of Habsburg, in the characteristic re-enactment at Madonna di Campiglio.
Further down the valley, in the Belluno area, at Sedico and Castion, the traditional parades of allegorical floats are held, with a rich programme of side events. From 2 February to 10 March, the Sedico Carnival will take place, with its highlight on Sunday 17 February 2019, from 1.30pm in Piazza Vittoria, featuring the Children’s Mask Catwalk on stage, and at 2.30pm the Children’s Carnival, with a parade of floats and groups from Sedico’s schools and the special participation of the Masked Group of COMELICO, with entertainment shows, face-painting with the Fairies in Festa, and a soap-bubble show.
Anyone choosing the Dolomites, from late January to early March, should be prepared, because the allegorical figures of the Gnaga, the Matazin, the Zinghénesta and the Rollate will be ready to startle children and flood the squares of our mountain villages with parades, carnival noise, music and toasts to the sound of mulled wine.