Carnival in Tuscany: San Giovanni Valdarno

The Carnival of Viareggio is already known all over the world. However, Tuscany offers different versions of this celebration, like the one of the little village of San Giovanni Valdarno. This village is surrounded by nature, among the rolling hills of the Tuscan countryside and it shows many tourist sites. Every year San Giovanni prepares a lot of events dedicated to the Carnival, which take place on five Sundays before Mardi Gras.

The origins of this celebration are religious: the meaning of the party concerns the celebration of the deceased. Since everybody gathered in the oratory to visit the deceased, this situation then became a kind of festivity.

The 2020 program begins on January 23rd, with a parade of the Uffizi carriage and the performance of the flag-wavers. It goes on with the communal concert and the lunch in the “Basilica of Santa Maria delle Grazie”. Everything ends on February 23rd, even if the final closure of the program will be on February 26th with the special “Festa della Salacca”.

This event is open to everyone and it allows to families to spend a different fun-filled Sunday. The streets are full of masked children, confetti, chariots and masks and the atmosphere in there is simply unique!