MikePScott
Bove Finto, Offida, 2018
The carnival of Offida (in dialect offidano "Lu bov fint" and "Li Vlurd").
The Carnival takes place every year according to a ritual set by tradition: officially begins on January 17, the day of Saint Anthony the Abbot, and ends the day of the Ashes.
On the Friday (the first afternoon) a rudimentary bove (bull) consisting of a wooden and iron frame, covered with a white cloth and carried by a couple of men, starts to wander through the central streets of the town.
In the Palazzo Popolo the crowd, dressed with the guazzarò, a very simple white and wide dress once used for country work, encourage the bull with screams and shouts giving rise to movements that are very reminiscent of a bullfight. The chaos caused by sudden changes of direction, chases and shouts of the crowd also generate moments of tension and panic usually resolved with hilarity also thanks to another fundamental ingredient of the party that is red wine (and vin cotto), consumed copiously by all the participants. In the dark, tiredness and glamor dictated by repeated drinking, the party ends with the symbolic killing of the bull where they are made to touch the horns on a column of the town hall. The final act is a procession of the dead bull through the streets of the village singing the anthem of the carnival Offidano.
Bove Finto, Offida, 2018
The carnival of Offida (in dialect offidano "Lu bov fint" and "Li Vlurd").
The Carnival takes place every year according to a ritual set by tradition: officially begins on January 17, the day of Saint Anthony the Abbot, and ends the day of the Ashes.
On the Friday (the first afternoon) a rudimentary bove (bull) consisting of a wooden and iron frame, covered with a white cloth and carried by a couple of men, starts to wander through the central streets of the town.
In the Palazzo Popolo the crowd, dressed with the guazzarò, a very simple white and wide dress once used for country work, encourage the bull with screams and shouts giving rise to movements that are very reminiscent of a bullfight. The chaos caused by sudden changes of direction, chases and shouts of the crowd also generate moments of tension and panic usually resolved with hilarity also thanks to another fundamental ingredient of the party that is red wine (and vin cotto), consumed copiously by all the participants. In the dark, tiredness and glamor dictated by repeated drinking, the party ends with the symbolic killing of the bull where they are made to touch the horns on a column of the town hall. The final act is a procession of the dead bull through the streets of the village singing the anthem of the carnival Offidano.