Carnival Parade

Verona Carnival tradition (also known in the local dialect as Bacanal del Gnoco) seems to date back to 1531, when Verona was troubled by a terrible famine. Nowadays, during this period of the year, making and eating gnocchi has become a real tradition for the families of the city, so that so the last Friday before the start of Lent is now called Venerdì Gnocolar. Carnival in Verona during the years has spread out, engaging in its celebration Verona’s different neighborhood: each of them has a committee and its traditional mask and costume, inspired by historical characters or ancient crafts. Every year Verona celebrates its Carnival tradition with a street parade: the famous Papà del Gnoco, the character that represents the area of San Zeno, always opens up the parade, followed by other characters, such as Simeon de l’Isolo (Veronetta area), Duca de la Pignata and Dio de l’Oro ( The area of Santo Stefano), Principe Reboano de la Concordia ( Filippini area), Sior de la Spianà ( Stadio area), Duca de la Pearà (Indipendenza and Santa Lucia area) and many more. The last Friday of the Carnival season the streets of the city center are animated by colourful characters and allegorical floats, marching band and majorettes.