Melilli Carnival

Traditions

Thanks to the imagination, creativity and beauty of its allegorical floats and masked groups, the Carnival of Melilli is considered among the most beautiful in the internal Hyblean territory.
In Melilli, the Carnival tradition is deeply felt and shared by the whole population and by the numerous tourists who crowd the streets of the picturesque village every year.
Carnival begins on Shrove Thursday with the ceremony of handing over the keys to the city to the Carnival King followed by the parade of grotesque allegorical floats. Every evening until Shrove Tuesday is enlivened by parades of masked groups, allegorical floats, music and entertainment performances.
The Melillese Carnival has its roots in 1936 when the "a Someggiata" group created the first, simple allegorical float entitled "Living - You never die".
During the week from Thursday to Shrove Tuesday, young and old use to dress up. The mascarati, i.e. the masked, once with their faces always covered by a mask so as not to be recognized, often gathered in traveling groups and entered the houses of friends and acquaintances where the group sometimes performed in real improvised comedy skits. It was also customary during the Carnival party to drink good homemade red wine. All traditions that still survive today.

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