1 bacchanalia

Bacchanalia

Current carnivals come from the Bacchanalia, celebrated in Roman times.

Bacchanalia were celebrations in honor of God Bacchus.

At the beginning only women celebrated it and in secret.

The Catholic Church couldn’t stop the Bacchanalia, so they replaced it with the Carnival.

The Carnival in the Middle Ages.

In the Middle Ages the Church prosecuted those who didn’t respect law.

However, the Carnival renewed and the tradition went on.

It was celebrated with lots of food and drink.

International carnival

The most important carnivals in the world are in:

Rio de JanerioVenice

• Tenerife’s carnival is very similar to Brasil’s carnivals. We also have parades like in Rio de Janeiro, but these are smaller

Rio de Janeiro’s parade

Tenerife’s parade

In these cities’ carnivals, music is similar too.

Venice’s CarnivalHowever, in Venice, Carnival is different. There, all the people wear their costumes in the festival.

People wear beautiful masks with costumes

Carnivals in Carnivals in SpainSpain

Since when…?• According to historians, the origins of carnival date back to

ancient Egypt and Sumeria. In Spain, Carnival is celebrated in many towns and cities considered as the most famous carnival held in the country are: The Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and another important is the Carnival of Cádiz.

• One of the most popular landmarks in our country is Carnivals. It’s celebrated in Christian countries. People in general celebrate it for three days.

In the Middle Ages, it was celebrated with games, dances and enjoying food and drink, to be prepared for the time of abstinence.

• In Spain, during the reign of Fernando and Isabel people used to dress up on certain days in order to play pranks in public places. Later, in 1523, Carlos I banned masks and masked

people.  Similarly, Felipe II also carried out a ban on masks. 

• When the dictator Franco ruled, it was banned again. To avoid the ban made by Franco, the Canarian carnivals were celebrated in winter and people called it “the winter’s festival”.

• At the end of  Franco’s regime, the party of the costumes enjoyed its true golden age. In the early years of the eighties it was rare to see someone without a flashy outfit. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHWgPeC5fwc&feature=related

Carnivals

How does it become in the Basque

Country?

Although carnival is not celebrated as before, in some places, like in Lantz (Navarre) they are celebrated in the traditional way even today. Representations of Basque mythological characters parade in the streets.

Miel Otxin• He is a wicked

bandit who represents the bad spirits. He wears blue trousers, a tall cap and a coloured shirt made of paper.

Ziripot

• He wears sacks of hay. He walks around the streets of Lantz while the Zaldiko tries to knock him down.

Zaldiko• He is half man and half

horse, and elegantly dressed. He tries to knock down Ziripot. Another character, known as Arotzak, is dressed as a blacksmith and puts the horseshoes on the Zaldiko.

How do we celebrate it?

• In our country, Spain, most people celebrate carnivals on the streets with friends and the family, not privately, going to pubs, parades, etc.

• Also, we celebrate it at schools with children, with beautiful parades, carnival dances and awesome costumes.

• Furthermore, we can see amazing floats in the streets.

• Teenagers usually go out with friends and they meet in groups wearing the same costume. They can do their own costume or they can buy them, but it´s always funnier to sew your own. We have a free week without school.

The Burial of the Sardine in Bilbao

• A special event takes place the last day of Carnivals in many cities of the Basque Country.

• Tuesday of Carnival: it’s called “the burial of the sardine” in order to finish Carnivals. It consist in the burning of a symbolic figure, the sardine, where the past is buried for the beginnig of a new and better society,  finishing with the vices and sins committed during the holidays.

• Howewer, nowadays the religious significance has been lost in most places, specially in cities.

The culture department of Getxo, holds every year the carnival  for `primary schools in this town. All teachers meet to choose the costumes, they do them with the students. The council cuts the traffic on the most important streets of the town, for the schools parade. There are usually clowns to entertain children.

Carnivals in Getxo