The carnival of Viareggio

Carnival is one of the oldest festivities in Italy, as it sinks its roots in the Roman Saturnalia, and even further back in time in the Greek Dionysian festivals, when a temporary reversal of social roles took place, in an atmosphere of levity and freedom, all the more enjoyable as everything was later to return exactly as it was before. Carnival is still celebrated in predominantly Catholic countries. The word Carnival derives from a religious precept – refrain from eating meat  (carnem levare, in Latin) during Lent, a period of fasting and abstinence, immediately following Carnival.