Carnevale and Venetian Mask Making

On Wednesday February 10^th, the Italian American Association hosted their annual Venetian Mask Making Event. The event was held as the club’s first meeting back of the semester. The Italian American Association meets bi-weekly to discuss Italian culture and help others become more aware of Italian customs and culture. The meetings are held on Wednesdays at 3pm in FSC Meeting Room 1.

The meeting focused on Venetian mask making to teach the Bryant community about Carnevale. Carnevale, is a celebration that takes place every year in Venice, Italy. This year Carnevale ran from January 30 – February 9. It ends on Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday as it is more popularly known. During this time, Venice is flooded with visitors to experience the packed streets, costumes and beautiful masks. Venice becomes a showcase for acrobats, musicians and actors. The celebration is the last one before Lent begins on Ash Wednesday. Carnevale is meant to be a time where people have the “last party” before the time of Lent. Millions of visitors go to experience this riveting time in Venice. A majority of the people gather in the Piazza San Marco, Venice’s most well-known piazza. The celebration ends with a parade through the town with everyone dressed in their costumes and beautifully decorated masks.

IAA’s event began with a brief overview of the history of Carnevale as well as videos of this year’s celebration to show guests examples of the costumes and masks. The participants were then able to decorate their own masks with feathers, beads, glitter and other fun decorations.

Carnevale is also known to be a fun time where people are allowed to play jokes on one another around the city. A famous saying during the time of Carnevale is “A Carnevale Ogni Scherzo Vale” which translate to, during Carnevale, every joke counts.