253. Carnival of Vittorio Veneto: No.1 The Children

1954 my aunt took me to see the Carnival of Vittorio Veneto.  

There were men on ever so tall legs who bowed down and threw confetti on my head, strange people whose faces popped out of even stranger boxes and children, people prancing about with colourful clothes hiding their faces behind masks in the shape of the devil, clowns, elves, fairies, ogres, witches,  who came near with their knuckled fingers and long nails dangling, frightening  the daylights out of me.  There were sounds, music, trumpets blowing, drums banging, people shoving, enticing you and a continuous shower of confetti falling from the sky.  I stood in dread, but also in awe.

Half a century later I stood there, no longer in dread but in awe of the Carnival.  But what really impressed me were the faces of the children who actually were part of the parade, what a wonderful make-believe experience it must have been for them.  However, those children who stood in the street dressed up in their fancy dress and watched such wonders pass before their eyes, I’m sure will remember such scenes in many years to come... maybe like me, the enchantment never wears off.

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