Carnival, a tradition all Casteldaccese from an article by Joseph Mancuso published in "The sundial Casteldaccia"
Carnival is the time of celebration after Epiphany and before Lent, the Christian is characterized by moments of euphoria, and masked dances of every kind and nature, culminating in the Shrove Tuesday and the next Mardi Gras. Its origin is far away and often identifies himself as a legacy of the famous Saturnalia (which were already in the month of December).
Certainly the custom of the days dedicated to the Carnival leave us well understand that it is moments of liberation in which every man, descending into a state free from every rule and canon, has the opportunity to give vent to his instincts before returning to the sober atmosphere of the penitential season of Lent . These rites culminated with the famous final act of the burning of the carnival, played in different local variations in which it is staged: the man dies old and weary, taking with him the sorrows and evils, to give space to be in this sense, renewed.
In Italy we can boast a number of ways to celebrate the Carnival, the ancient Venetian carnival, the carnival of Florence, Turin, Viareggio, Termini Imerese, only to name a few. In '500, the Jesuits established the Carnival Sanctified (characterized by devotional practices) to counter the vagaries and the licensing of those days. Casteldaccia Even in his small local area, has a long tradition of carnival about a hundred years (and maybe more, but unfortunately there remains no evidence).
According to the ancients, the Carnival was a time when the "family" and the "neighborhood" rallied around themselves, spending the late afternoons and evenings dancing and "squander" freely. The houses of commoners were opened to guests at the balls: he moved to the low wall furniture (a table and some chairs at the most), it covered the walls with Mappin (dish) if these items were not nice to put on display (colander, crockery and so on), he attacked the "gramophone" or "record player" (if you had one) with mazurkas, tangos , tarantella and waltz and hurl themselves in the midst of noise.
Carnival was the epitome of hospitality that has always characterized the people casteldaccese, in addition to paisan it was customary to invite well scirani (strangers) that the people of neighboring countries. It had started immediately after the epiphany and the "balls" were organized on Saturday and Sunday placed between the end of the week of Christmas and Ash Wednesday: a few days there was also the last Thursday of February, on Shrove Tuesday and Mardi Gras. In addition to private homes, made available to the occurrence, were put on a festival, the "store" with festoons and garlands (which we identified with the word casteldaccesi majiaseni or salons, where you run music). Young people used to dress up in masks (mascaras) and visit the various places of dancing brighten up the present.
E 'should be stressed that the customs of mascara not masks were composed of officers from simple but badly worn rags or skirts, shawls, skirts old ... remained the common goal of becoming unrecognizable. They never took to the streets of the country alone, but must be accompanied by strict vastuniere (person in civilian clothes called in this way because he held a stick in hand) who also had the role to submit within ¹ oni knows, for he recognition and to ensure the integrity of those who did were unrecognizable. The evenings were punctuated by dance music, from fleeting schiticchi and, perhaps, by furtive meetings of love In fact, the carnival was a chance to be able zitare (get engaged), the occasion was to go only for girls in the years ahead. Each family was offering some burnie (pot) of salted anchovies or olives, dried tomatoes, cheese and bread brought some other good red wine, he should not miss, as it was always a generous glass offered to vastuniere of the evening.
were the years in which men danced with men and women with women, even if the Carnival was also the occasion when young people could get closer girls without any warm beating. These were the years when many young people out of economic necessity or family during those nights chose the fuitina . The tradition of the carnival found its ultimate expression, therefore, in the genuine sense of togetherness, to the community, to find each other.
E 'should be mentioned at this point the family in the persons of Clement John Clement (born 1877) and the first grandson Joseph Clement (1905) after that with their good humor, their tireless and joyful festive spirit could carry the 'in the entire country of carnival entertainment. And it was thanks to the interest of the family that already Clemente immediately after the Second World War, organized the first parade of floats and masked groups (the Carruzzo ). Talking with the daughter of Joseph Clement, Jane, we found that these events took place back in the '20s and '30s, but no evidence remains.
The 50s saw a growing interest in the Carnival, hand in hand with the reconstruction that characterized the postwar period (there are many photos and memories of the descendants of Clement, the only reference point) of the '60s and '70s, we know that continues the tradition of majaseni and Carruzzo . Over the past 70 years breaks the traditional parade and then be put back in the '80s by the cooperative "La Riviera" are the years when the fervor of carnival goes back to being always fed by members of the Clemente family, screenwriter of Master and Nino Rosario Clemente Gutteridge, from abbanniate announcing the days highlights of the festival with parade, now also processed by mechanical devices.
E 'curious to recall that on Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Christian Lent, for casteldaccesi corresponded to' last day of Carnival as it was possible to travel to campaign for scialare freely between sausage and wine (Made traceable in the ancient tradition in which farmers are allowed the last blowout before Lent): this "pagan" custom has been strongly resisted by the parish priest Don Leonardo Ricotta and his tracks have already lost a decade .
The 90s are characterized by the gradual disintegration of traditional casteldaccese: begin to distinguish the majaseni dance in which families, those that meet only the masses of young people to the sound of dance music. The latter will prevail on the distant past and will mark a new way of Carnival: a little smoother, a lot of confusion, lack of community.
were numerous attempts by the government to encourage and financially support the organization of Carnival Casteldaccia. But, despite the laudable efforts, one can not help but highlight the fact: we can not keep the original spirit of our party because the compartment progress in recent years, including Casteldaccia, he brought with him the sad emptied of all value, lacking the small size and warm in the neighborhood and the close relatives.
AND 'logic requires a new approach to organize the party, a business perspective, following the example of many countries in Sicily who were able to revive their tradition and therefore the tourism economy. And 'necessary investment in preparatory schools of arts and costume, and a proactive approach and focus by all casteldaccesi, if the common goal is the maintenance of this event. On the contrary, leaving only the memory of a simple carnival, an ancient but still strongly felt and paid by the spontaneity of the people.
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