With the return of spring, the Casola Valsenio Spring Festival and the Floats of Thought return, featuring the traditional Bonfire of the Old Woman and the Night of Spring. Two dates to mark in your diary: Saturday, April 25th and Friday, May 1st.
During these events, the historic center comes alive with music, markets, and food stands.
When: Saturday, April 25th
Time: All day
The allegorical floats celebrate historical and current events and figures, accompanied by "Relations," passages from popular literature that emphasize their meaning and enhance the artistically expressed ideas.
The participants remain immobile in plastic forms throughout the parade: the human body is molded as if it were plaster, merging with the float itself.
In the evening, the Segavecchia, a masked float representing all the evils of winter, is paraded through a procession of dances, songs, and games, culminating in a great bonfire, purifying and propitiatory for the new season.
When: Friday, May 1st
Time: Starting at sunset
Three plaster giants will appear under spotlights that further enhance their architectural forms, accompanied by evocative music.
The festival yesterday...
The Spring Festival and the Floats of Thought was born in 1891 as a Mid-Lent Festival. The festival included the burning of the Vecchia (Old Woman) and a carnival-style parade of floats celebrating nature's awakening.
The Mid-Lent Festivals were abolished in 1908 by order of the clergy, and in Casola Valsenio it was transformed into the Spring Festival; and even the floats transform from carnival floats to allegorical floats.