In the U.S.A., we love to celebrate Halloween. Italy does not celebrate Halloween the same way we do, so when do people get to dress in costumes and eat lots of sweets? During Carnevale! Carnevale lasts for several weeks, and during this time there are parades in many towns where everyone dresses in their favorite costumes. Sometimes groups of people wear matching costumes, for example, a group of friends might all dress as pirates. At the parades, there are booths that sell donuts and thin cookies that look a bit like chips. These cookies are called chiacchiere (key-ahk-Yair-ray). The parades are very long and filled with floats that can be as tall as a two-story building. The floats move and often tell a story, usually meant to remind people how to behave. Artists work on these colorful floats all year long, and the best float wins a prize!
I learned about Carnevale, a celebration tied to the Christian religion, specifically Catholicism.
