|
 
|
Traditions
|
|
|
Holidays and Observances for 2010
|
| January 01 | New Year's Day (Capodanno) | | January 06 | Epiphany (Epifania) | | February 11 | Fat Thursday (Giovedì Grasso) | | April 02 | Good Friday (Venerdi Santo) | | April 04 | Easter Sunday (Pasqua) | | April 05 | Easter Monday (Pasquetta) | | April 25 | Anniversary of Liberation (Festa della Liberazione) | | May 01 | Labour Day (Festa dei Lavoratori) | | June 02 | Republic Day (Festa della Repubblica) | | August 15 | Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Assunzione) | | October 04 | Saint Francis of Assisi | | November 01 | All Saints' Day (Ognissanti or Tutti i santi) | | November 02 | All Souls' Day (Il giorno dei morti) | | November 04 | National Unity (Giorno dell'Unità Nazionale) | | November 04 | Armed Forces Day (Festa delle Forze Armate) | | December 06 | St Nicholas Day (San Nicolò) | | December 08 | Immaculate Conception (Immacolata Concezione) | | December 25 | Christmas Day (Natale) | | December 26 | St. Stephen's Day (Santo Stefano) | | December 31 | New Year's Eve (Ultimo Dell'anno) |
|
New! Italy Calendars for 2010
|
|
Christmas Customs
|
|
Christmas is celebrated in Italy similarly to other Western European countries, albeit with a stronger emphasis given by the media to the Christian meaning of the holiday and its celebration by the Roman Catholic Church, also reinforced by the still widespread tradition of setting up the presepe, a tradition initiated by Saint Francis of Assisi. On Christmas Eve ("Vigilia di Natale") dinner traditionally consists of seafood (even though the "feast of the seven fishes" is no longer widespread) and is followed by typical Italian Christmas sweets, such as pandoro, panettone and torrone. On midnight, tradition holds that presents are left for good-behaving children under the family Christmas tree either by Babbo Natale (literally "Father Christmas", the local name of Santa Claus in his common Coca Cola-inspired depiction) or by Gesù Bambino (baby Jesus) himself, and these will be opened on Christmas morning. Adults exchange gifts too, and if no children are present, these may be opened at midnight, after the Christmas Eve dinner, or when coming back home from the Midnight Mass, for those who attend it.
Piazza Duomo, in Milan, Italy, by night, with Christmas decoration. Picture by Giovanni Dall'Orto, december 12 2006.
Boxing day is also a bank holiday in Italy. The festivities naturally extend to the end of the year and then to the Epifania (Epiphany), which is more commonly called "la Befana", from the name of the benevolent hag who, over the night between the 5th and 6th of January, is said to bring sweets and gifts to good children, and charcoal to bad ones.
More information on Christmas worldwide
La Befana
La Befana is a character in Italian folklore, similar to Saint Nicholas or Santa Claus. The character may have originated in Rome, then spread as a tradition to peninsular Italy.
In popular folklore Befana visits all the children of Italy on the eve of 6 January to fill their socks with candy if they are good or a lump of coal if they are bad. Being a good housekeeper, many say she will sweep the floor before she leaves. The child's family typically leaves a small glass of wine and a plate with a few morsels of food, often regional or local, for the Befana.
Three Befane with their brooms. Image courtesy of Square87.
She is usually portrayed as an old lady riding a broomstick through the air wearing a black shawl and is covered in soot because she enters the children's houses through the chimney. She is often smiling and carries a bag or hamper filled with candy, gifts, or both.
More information on La Befana
|
|
|
|
|
New! Italian Christmas Word Search Puzzle
|
|
Print and solve the new Italian Christmas Word Search Puzzle. Search for words vertically, diagonally, horizontally and backwards. Click here to open a new browser window - use the browser's Print option to print puzzle.
|
|
|
Carnivals in Italy
|
Carnival of Viareggio
The carnival of Viareggio (Italian: carnevale di Viareggio) is a carnival event yearly held in the Tuscanian city of Viareggio, in Italy. It is considered amongst the most renowned carnival celebrations in both Italy and Europe.
Its main characteristic is given by the parade of floats and masks, usually made of paper-pulp, depicting caricatures of popular people, such as politicians, showmen and sportsmen; the parade is held on the Viareggio avenue located alongside the local beach.
Viareggio Carnival 2007.
Image courtesy of Angelo Romano.
The first Viareggio carnival parade was held in 1873, when some wealthy middle-class men decided to organize a parade of floats adorned with flowers; a number of local citizens, as a sign of protest, then decided to put on masks in order to show their refusal of high taxes they were forced to pay. The first float to win the parade, in 1883, was named I Quattro Mori (The Four Moors), an accurately representation of the homonymous Livorno statue. The carnival continued to gain popularity within the years, and in 1949 a football youth tournament, called Torneo di Viareggio, was first organized as a collateral manifestation.
The official mascot of the Viareggio carnival is the burlamacco, first depicted in 1931 by Uberto Bonetti. Since 2001, all the floats are built in an apposite seat, called cittadella del Carnevale (Carnival citadel), located on the northern side of the Viareggio city territory.
More information on Carnival of Viareggio
Carnival of Venice
The Carnival of Venice (in Italian: Carnevale Di Venezia) was first recorded in 1268.Masks have always been a central feature of the Venetian carnival; traditionally people were allowed to wear them between the festival of Santo Stefano (St. Stephen's Day, December 26) at the start of the carnival season and midnight of Shrove Tuesday. They have always been around Venice. As masks were also allowed during Ascension and from October 5 to Christmas, people could spend a large proportion of the year in disguise . Maskmakers (mascherari) enjoyed a special position in society, with their own laws and their own guild.
Maschere al Carnevale di Venezia 2008.
Image courtesy of Roberto Vicario.
Carnival was outlawed by the fascist government in the 1930s. It was not until a modern mask shop was founded in the 1980s that Carnival enjoyed a revival. Carnival starts around two weeks before Ash Wednesday and ends on Shrove Tuesday (Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras), the day before Ash Wednesday.
More information on Carnival of Venice
Carnival of Ivrea
Carnival of Ivrea, Sfilata dei carri da geto (Parade of the horse-cars taking part in the orange battle).
Image courtesy of Laurom.
Another important Italian carnival is the Historical Carnival of Ivrea, mostly known for its Battle of the Oranges. It is valued as one of the most ancient carnivals in the world: during the year 1000 a miller's wife killed the tyrant of the city, King Arduino; from that episode began a civil war between the oppressed people and the king's supporters, finally won by people, and until now every year the citizens remember their liberation with the Battle of the Oranges. Here, teams of "Aranceri" by foot shoot oranges representing ancient arrows and stones against Aranceri on carts, representing Arduino's allies. During the French occupation of Italy in the nineteenth century the Carnival of Ivrea had been modified by adding representatives of the French army who help the miller's wife.
More information on Carnivals
|
|
| New! Collectibles from Italy |
Preview our selection of traditional pottery, ceramics, porcelain, art glass from Italy, including: Barbini, Barovier, Cantagalli, Corso De Fiori, Deruta, DESIMONE, Fantoni, Fornasetti, Gambone Pottery, Italian Faience, Italian Majolica, Pattarino, Raymor, Richard Ginori, Rosenthal Netter, Salviati, Seguso, Venini Glass, Vietri, Zampiva, and more....
Click here to see all collectibles from Italy |
|
|
|
|
|
Easter Customs
|
|
|
|
Holy week in Enna-Settimana Santa ad Enna.
Image courtesy of Massimiliano Canale.
|
|
Send flowers and gift baskets to Italy
|
|
Folk Dance and Song
|
The Tarantella is an Italian dance, its name coming from the town of Taranto, where it originated. It is the most recognized of Italian music, and is the popular theme song of pizzerias and restaurants. Throughout Italy it is different with every region but has the same basic upbeat tempo.
More information on Tarantella
'Antiche tradizioni popolari' is a folklore performing group from Agrigento (Sicily, Italy).
Image courtesy of Lestat (Jan Mehlich).
Italian folk songs include ballads, lyrical songs, lullabies and children's songs, seasonal songs based around holidays such as Christmas, life-cycle songs that celebrate weddings, baptisms and other important events, dance songs, cattle calls and occupational songs, tied to professions such as fishermen, shepherds and soldiers. Ballads (canti epico-lirici) and lyric songs (canti lirico-monostrofici) are two important categories. Ballads are most common in northern Italy, while lyric songs prevail further south. Ballads are closely tied to the English form, with some British ballads existing in exact correspondence with an Italian song. Other Italian ballads are more closely based on French models. Lyric songs are a diverse category that consist of lullabies, serenades and work songs, and are frequently improvised though based on a traditional repertoire.
Other Italian folk song traditions are less common than ballads and lyric songs. Strophic, religious laude, sometimes in Latin, are still occasionally performed, and epic songs are also known, especially those of the maggio celebration. Professional female singers perform dirges similar in style to those elsewhere in Europe. Yodeling exists in northern Italy, though it is most commonly associated with the folk musics of other Alpine nations. The Italian Carnival is associated with several song types, especially the Carnival of Bagolino, Brescia. Choirs and brass bands are a part of the mid-Lenten holiday, while the begging song tradition extends through many holidays throughout the year.
More information on Music of Italy
|
|
|
Italian Birthday Song
|
|
Wedding Customs
|
In some parts of Italy, a party, known as a Serenade, is thrown outside of the bride’s home by the groom. His family and friends come and wait for the bride, entertaining themselves until she appears. The groom then sings to his bride to further seduce her. Once his song is sung, the party ends.
The Italian Wedding
The day of the wedding the groom’s men try their hardest to make the groom as uncomfortable as possible by saying things like “Maybe she forgot where the church is”. It is also traditional for the grooms family to give a dowry to the bride and to provide the engagement ring. The bride’s family is then responsible for receiving the guests of the wedding in their home for a reception afterward.
The color green is very important in the Italian wedding. In Italy, the tradition of some thing blue is replaced with something green. This color brings good luck to the married couple. The veil and brides maids also were important in an Italian wedding. The tradition began in Ancient Rome when the veil was used to hide the bride from any spirits that would corrupt her and the bridesmaids were to wear similar outfits so that the evil spirits were further confused.
In Sicilian customs, the dessert course is often presented as a Venetian Table, a dazzling array of pastries, fruits, coffees, cakes, (etc) presented in great quantity with much celebration. This is often called Venetian Hour.
Favor Cake (Torta Bomboniera) made by Ore Liete - Italy It has 40 carton boxes filled with sugared almonds and printed tags, and porcelain flowers glued on them. Image courtesy of M.Caterina.
After dessert, more dancing commences, gifts are given, and the guests eventually begin to leave. In Southern Italy, as the guests leave, they hand envelopes of money to the bride and groom, who return the gift with a wedding favor, a small token of appreciation.
More information on Weddings
|
|
|
|
