The European Carnival can be traced back to the ancient Shennong Festival, which is a festival of indulgence and feasting before the Christian Lent. Generally, the carnival starts in February, about 41 days before Easter, also known as Maslenitsa. According to Christian doctrine, Lent begins after this day, so believers have to seize the time to enjoy themselves. When the carnival comes, various cities in Italy will organize various celebrations, including cultural performances, costume parades, float parades, etc. People will dress up carefully and embrace each other in pedestrian streets, squares, and parks. Some people will wear national costumes and dress up as ancient people. Some people will dress up as various animals with different styles; some people will play stars from all walks of life and look very similar; some people will wear masks and paint their faces with oil paint. Men, women, young and old gather together to form a magical and colorful fairy-tale world.
The city in Italy that is famous for its carnival is Viareggio, located on the seaside. In addition, the carnivals in Venice, Rome, Milan, and Florence also have their own characteristics. Among them, the biggest feature of the Venice Carnival is its masks and gorgeous costumes. The colorful festival activities attract tourists from all over the world to Venice. In the streets and alleys of Venice, you can see mask shops with different styles and a wide variety of styles everywhere. Each mask shop has its own characteristics. Some specialize in ethnic masks, some collect ink cloaks, some sell high-top hard hats, and some perform live mask production, such as those made of paper pulp, cloth, plastic, and even porcelain and glass. In addition, “masks” can be painted directly on the face, some are simple, and some are exquisitely painted.
During the festival, Italians will dress up in conjunction with carnival activities and go to the streets to celebrate the festival. Therefore, the holiday consumption tends to be Italian traditional national costumes, celebrity costumes, and carnival costumes. Other popular products include items for decorating floats, ball gowns, fireworks, chocolate candies, and various carnival accessories and makeup accessories.