 Carnival goers are dressed up with masks and costumes as they pose in front of St. Mark's bell tower, in Venice, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 6, 2009. Masked merrymakers are cavorting in Venice to mark the start of Carnival, for the canal-laced city's pre-Lenten festivities are Italy's most popular. (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/Luigi Costantini) |
VENICE, Italy - Masked merrymakers are cavorting in Venice to mark the start of Carnival.
The canal-laced city's pre-Lenten festivities are Italy's most popular. Venetian souvenir shops are crammed year-round with colourful, delicate masks, but "Carnevale" is the time to put them on.
Other Italian cities celebrate, too, with Rome embracing the centuries-old tradition with gusto recently. In towns big and small, kids in costumes sometimes costing hundreds of dollars walk around their neighbourhoods, scattering coloured paper confetti and nibbling on sugar-dusted pastries.
People indulge in sweets because some Catholics swear off sugar in a sign of penance when Lent begins on Ash Wednesday.