February 13, 2018

Today, February 13, people in Ivrea, Italy, wrapped up the Battaglia delle Arance (Battle of the Oranges), the traditional end of the city’s Carnival celebrations and the nation’s largest fruit fight. Ivrea is a town near Turin in the Piemonte (Piedmont) region of northwestern Italy. The messy three-day battle uses up more than 550,000 pounds (250,000 kilograms) of oranges, and stems from a revolt against an unpopular lord of Ivrea some 800 years ago.

People of Ivrea, Itlay, defend the town against “an invasion” of the lord’s aranceri (orange throwers) during the annual Battle of the Oranges. Credit: © Pecold/Shutterstock

According to legend, sometime around the year 1200, the lord of Ivrea tried to force his romantic attentions on a local miller’s daughter (known as Violetta) on the eve of her wedding to someone else. The bride-to-be did not take kindly to the lord’s actions. Instead of submitting to his advances, Violetta killed him. The townspeople, fed up with years of oppression, rallied around the miller’s daughter, defeated the lord’s soldiers, and then stormed and burned the lord’s palace.

The people of Ivrea began celebrating their liberation with an annual event that was eventually tied to the end of carnival. Different missiles have been used to “re-create” the battle over the years, including beans and apples (representing arrows). Oranges—still a bit hard, prompting many people to wear protective helmets and masks—have been the battle’s ammunition since the late 1800′s.

Today, a horse-drawn cart loaded with the lord’s aranceri (orange throwers) runs the gauntlet of Ivrea’s streets three days in a row. The lord’s aranceri, protected in plastic “suits of armor,” are pummeled with oranges as they navigate the town streets—but they too throw oranges, and the entire scene is soon one of citrus carnage. Teams of orange throwers on foot defend different parts of the town, and each is identified by medieval uniforms and even coats of arms. Nets protect local store fronts and non-participants from wayward citrus fruit missiles. The oranges, imported from the southern Italian island of Sicily, are the remnants and rejects of the winter harvest. La Mugnaia (the miller’s daughter) Violetta, played by a local woman dressed in red and white, oversees the activities, hands out sweets to children, and throws flowers to admirers. A symbolic funeral ends the battle on Shrove Tuesday, followed by a more traditional parade of bands and floats.

The week-long Carnevale di Ivrea celebration draws some 100,000 people each year. Carnival is a lively time of dancing, feasting, music, pageants, and parades prior to the beginning of Lent, a strict religious season observed in the spring by most Christians. People celebrate Carnival around the world. The largest and most famous Carnaval draws millions of people each year to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In the United States, the best-known Carnival is held in New Orleans, Louisiana—an event capped by the city’s famous celebration of Mardi Gras (French for Fat Tuesday).

February 24, 2017

In many places, today marks the beginning of the annual festival known as Carnival—or Carnaval in Spanish and Portuguese. Carnival is a lively time of dancing, feasting, music, pageants, and parades prior to the beginning of Lent, a strict religious season observed in the spring by most Christians. People celebrate Carnival around the world. The largest and most famous Carnaval draws millions of people each year to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In the United States, the best-known Carnival is held in New Orleans, Louisiana—an event capped by the city’s famous celebration of Mardi Gras (French for Fat Tuesday).

Colorful and boisterous parades highlight the festivities during the world famous Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Credit: © CP DC Press/Shutterstock

In some places, the Carnival season begins as early as January 6, a Christian holiday known as Twelfth Night marking the end of the Christmas season. The main events of Carnival, however, are packed into the Shrovetide—the final days before Lent. Lent is a time of spiritual discipline, fasting, prayer, and self-sacrifice running from Ash Wednesday to Easter—a period of about 40 days. To prepare for this lengthy period of physical denial, people have traditionally loaded up on things they abstain from during Lent such as eating meats or sweets or drinking alcohol. The word carnival comes from the old Italian word carnelevare, meaning a leaving off of (eating) meat.

Traditional pancakes are served at several different Shrovetide celebrations around the world. Here, a Russian woman offers fluffy crêpes during Maslenitsa, a week-long festival leading up to Ash Wednesday. Credit: © Shutterstock

Carnival festivals are most common in Roman Catholic areas of Europe and in the Caribbean Islands and other parts of Latin America. Shrovetide celebrations come in many different sizes and shapes. In parts of Scandinavia, delicious sweet rolls called semla or fastelavnsboller are eaten on Fastelavn (Fasting Evening), the day before Lent. In parts of Germany and Switzerland, the day is called Fastnacht or Fasnacht (Fasting Night). In the United Kingdom, Pancake Day or Pancake Tuesday precedes Ash Wednesday. In many Russian and Ukrainian communities, the pre-Lenten Maslenitsa festival is a time for butter, cheese, and crêpes (thin pancakes).

March 4, 2014

Today is Mardi Gras, a day to let the good times roll as the merrymaking and feasting of Carnival come to a close. Also known as Shrove Tuesday, today is the last day that boisterous crowds of costumed spectators in New Orleans; Mobile, Alabama; Biloxi, Mississippi; Rio de Janeiro; Cologne, Germany; and many other cities will enjoy parades of lavishly decorated floats and attend balls and parties. Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent, a religious season observed in the spring by most Christians. Lent serves as a time of fasting, prayer, and self-sacrifice in preparation for Easter.

Mardi Gras–French for Fat Tuesday–marks the end of the long Carnival season, which starts on January 6, or Twelfth Night. In Western Christian churches, Twelfth Night commemorates the coming of the wise men to the Christ child. Among Eastern Christians, the holiday celebrates the baptism of Jesus.

People come from around the world to celebrate Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Societies called krewes organize and pay for the parades. Colorfully dressed riders on the floats throw necklaces, toys, and coins called doubloons to the onlookers. The krewes also give balls and parties. Rio de Janeiro sponsors the world’s largest Mardi Gras. There, the floats are built by samba clubs, usually made up of neighborhood associations.

Costumed riders on a elaborate decorated float toss beads and other trinkets to crowds during a Mardi Gras parade. Colorful Mardi Gras parades are a highlight of the Carnival season in New Orleans. (© Alamy Images)

Mardi Gras goes back thousands of years to ancient festivals welcoming spring. In Germany Mardi Gras is called Fastnacht. In England it is called Pancake Day or Pancake Tuesday. The first recorded Mardi Gras in New Orleans took place in 1827. But some historians date the city’s first celebration to 1699, when French explorers Jean Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville, and Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d’Iberville, landed in Louisiana. Mobile, Alabama, boasts of celebrating the first organized Mardi Gras, in 1703.