Open

The Viareggio Parade


Every February, the coastal town of Viareggio (just north of Pisa) has a month long festival where massive floats parade in the two streets parallel with the beach on each Sunday afternoon.
People come from all over Italy to watch these parades that go for about 2 hours.

Lyn and I decided to go and see this parade as it is probably a "once-in-a-lifetime" occasion.
We were not disappointed!

Everyone walks around while the floats are moving down the streets, nothing is cordoned off and it is all very interactive - awesome!
This type of parade could never happen in Australia!

This little character was pushed around by one person and it sort of sums up the whole atmosphere of the place.



The floats are made of paper-mache, are animated (mostly by people operating long ropes, but some are mechanised) and are simply massive (some would be 20metres high)!
Typically, they represent a satirical look at politics and the world, but there were some there that were  obviously done "for fun".

World Leaders Warming Their Hands On A Burning World!
Italian PM (Lanzi) Feeding The Turtle (Italy) Euros To Try To Get It Moving Faster
Lanzi The "Riformer"
This Is Supposed To Sum Up The State Of Italy!
Some Lanzi's Mini-Transformers/ Riformers
Merlin Taking A Photo Of Pinocchio & Friends!
Angela Merkel Giving Birth To Lots Of Little Lanzi's While Pigs Fly In The Background!
Euros Walking Around Everywhere
All the locals (as well as the people who come for the day) get dressed up for the occasion and you can buy masks, wigs and all sorts of stuff to dress up in.



A Few Visitors On The Train With Us!
Some of the more light-hearted ones (or less light-hearted) were just as impressive.



This one involved a huge rotating picture-frame that showed a girl dancing with a joker and then the whole thing swung through 180 degrees to show a huge black figure grabbing her .... hmm .... not sure about that one.
The Happy Side ......
..... And The Dark Side!
The Wild West
I Think That This One Was The Favourite!

The Song Is "Ciao Bella, Ciao, Ciao, Ciao!"
It Had The Crowd Dancing!
If you want to see more of this particular float and hear the song (which happens to be an old Italian revolutionary song), click this link that will take you to YouTube;


We have also added the link for the following clip that gives an overview of the whole parade. It is over 20 minutes long, but is quite entertaining to watch and brings back fond memories.


We both had a really good time and once again, the weather was kind - it was sunny for most of the time at Viareggio, but apparently, it rained in Florence!
Guess Who This Is!
A Spectator!
It was a good day!









3 comments:

  1. Love the photos, you guys are photo journalists. I think Angela Merkel Giving Birth To Lots Of Little Lanzi's is pretty amusing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great pics. It looks like you guys had a really fun time!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow, some parade!. Some of those floats are huge. Heaps of detail too. Must be a few hours work in them!
    Great photos.

    ReplyDelete