The carnival of Ivrea is one of Italy’s most spectacular,greatest and exciting festival thanks to one enterprising ingredient – theBattle of the Oranges. Three days of build up and offically sanctioned violence are ‘organised‘ when the squares and piazze are turned into battle grounds between Nine competing teams and 3000 people. The origin of the madness goes back to a legendary people’s revolt against Count Ranieri of Biandrate and is based on liberty and freedom of expression. Before the battle on the Sunday of Carnival, the populace are fed with free beans, perhaps to sustain them during the rigors of battle. The signal for the festival to begin is the holding aloft of a child by each of the 4 quarters of the town. Although not as dangerous as running with the bulls at Pamplona, on a cold day it has been known for many of the oranges to freeze like golf balls. Here I go through the main topic, Ivrea is northwestern Italian town near Torino, one of the strangest and most primitive Italian carnival celebrations takes place every year. Although the tomato throwing battle “La Tomatina” which takes place the last week of August which claims to be the world’s largest food fight. The origins of the festival go back to the twelfth century when there was a popular uprising against the tyrant Count Ranieri. He had claimed first night’s rights with all new brides and ran into the wrong person. A newly betrothed miller’s daughter, Violetta, beheaded the amorous count and showed his head from his bedroom balcony. This sparked a popular revolution of the people which based the roots of today’s orange fight. Every year there is a new Mugnaia (miller’s daughter) chosen who is the heroine of the festivities and is accompanied by a corollary of characters that represent the historical heritage of the town including: the General and his staff, soldiers, musicians and more than 1,500 masked characters that perform in historical parades and pageants throughout the time. Then, 400 tons of oranges are used as cracker as rival factions battle in a satirical but well-fought re-enactment of the peoples mutiny against their lords many centuries ago (these orangey battles begin on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday at 2:30 in the afternoon). There are more than 40 carri (decorated horse drawn carts) that carry 12 paying throwers (who represent the castle) through the 5 piazzas of the city where over 3,500 rebellious soliders representing 9 teams attempt to overwhelm them with their vicious orange throwing techniques. The winning team is determined by a jury who takes into account the decorations of the piazza (each team gets a half of a piazza to decorate) and the fury and accuracy of their orange throwing talents. The streets, walls and participants take on the color of the squashed and splattered fruit. Events draw to an end with the final burning of the scarli (which are large wooden poles) and a codfish and polenta feast in the Borghetto area of the city plus, during breaks in the ceremonies, there are dishes of fat beans being handed out (a tradition which dates back to 1325). The population of the city (25,000 residents) quadruples for the event and it’s impossible to drive through the streets as most of them are closed for traffic control or to allow the carri to pass by. Most hotels are booked a month in advance but a night’s stay is really not necessary to witness the battles. If you want to submerge into the fabric of the people and the true meaning of the events then a night or two stay is very much recommended. This celebration is a very deep and integral part of the people’s life here and the time you take to understand it will be well worth your while. As violent as it is, there is no Carnival more animated than this one.Friday, May 22, 2015
The Battle of the Oranges
The carnival of Ivrea is one of Italy’s most spectacular,greatest and exciting festival thanks to one enterprising ingredient – theBattle of the Oranges. Three days of build up and offically sanctioned violence are ‘organised‘ when the squares and piazze are turned into battle grounds between Nine competing teams and 3000 people. The origin of the madness goes back to a legendary people’s revolt against Count Ranieri of Biandrate and is based on liberty and freedom of expression. Before the battle on the Sunday of Carnival, the populace are fed with free beans, perhaps to sustain them during the rigors of battle. The signal for the festival to begin is the holding aloft of a child by each of the 4 quarters of the town. Although not as dangerous as running with the bulls at Pamplona, on a cold day it has been known for many of the oranges to freeze like golf balls. Here I go through the main topic, Ivrea is northwestern Italian town near Torino, one of the strangest and most primitive Italian carnival celebrations takes place every year. Although the tomato throwing battle “La Tomatina” which takes place the last week of August which claims to be the world’s largest food fight. The origins of the festival go back to the twelfth century when there was a popular uprising against the tyrant Count Ranieri. He had claimed first night’s rights with all new brides and ran into the wrong person. A newly betrothed miller’s daughter, Violetta, beheaded the amorous count and showed his head from his bedroom balcony. This sparked a popular revolution of the people which based the roots of today’s orange fight. Every year there is a new Mugnaia (miller’s daughter) chosen who is the heroine of the festivities and is accompanied by a corollary of characters that represent the historical heritage of the town including: the General and his staff, soldiers, musicians and more than 1,500 masked characters that perform in historical parades and pageants throughout the time. Then, 400 tons of oranges are used as cracker as rival factions battle in a satirical but well-fought re-enactment of the peoples mutiny against their lords many centuries ago (these orangey battles begin on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday at 2:30 in the afternoon). There are more than 40 carri (decorated horse drawn carts) that carry 12 paying throwers (who represent the castle) through the 5 piazzas of the city where over 3,500 rebellious soliders representing 9 teams attempt to overwhelm them with their vicious orange throwing techniques. The winning team is determined by a jury who takes into account the decorations of the piazza (each team gets a half of a piazza to decorate) and the fury and accuracy of their orange throwing talents. The streets, walls and participants take on the color of the squashed and splattered fruit. Events draw to an end with the final burning of the scarli (which are large wooden poles) and a codfish and polenta feast in the Borghetto area of the city plus, during breaks in the ceremonies, there are dishes of fat beans being handed out (a tradition which dates back to 1325). The population of the city (25,000 residents) quadruples for the event and it’s impossible to drive through the streets as most of them are closed for traffic control or to allow the carri to pass by. Most hotels are booked a month in advance but a night’s stay is really not necessary to witness the battles. If you want to submerge into the fabric of the people and the true meaning of the events then a night or two stay is very much recommended. This celebration is a very deep and integral part of the people’s life here and the time you take to understand it will be well worth your while. As violent as it is, there is no Carnival more animated than this one.