Carnival in Italy, il Carnevale di Ascoli Piceno
My life in Italy
Italy celebrates Carnevale with a huge winter festival celebrated with parades, masquerade balls, entertainment, music and parties.
This year, I will stick to the many things that are offered right here, in and around Ascoli Piceno!

Fun facts #2
My life in Italy
Aahhh… Carnevale! Ma che spettacolo!
What an incredible experience it was!
It was almost as if the festival was sort of a convention for small acts (on the Humour side)
some with representation of either characters well-known,
(through TV and movies) or simply a local joke, told in the local Ascolan dialect!
Soon after the festival, during my Italian class at Accademia Italiana our teacher Valeria, explained to us the many inside jokes that were present at the festival and their meanings.
For Example, we saw a group of grown men in women’s bathing suits performing a synchronized swimming act that was truly adorable. On the side of the stage there was written “andiamo a rifare una vasca in piazza”.
Valeria explained that the meaning comes from the older times in Ascoli when the city was smaller and many locals would meet in the Main Square (Piazza del Popolo) in order to “walk laps” up and down the square to socialize amongst one another. Hence laps, like a swimming pool, and so became the idea of the swimming skit and all of it’s humor.

During the festival, we also noticed a lady walking around
with a big pile of whipped cream on her head.
Valeria explained that in Italian “montarsi la testa“
refers to the act of being a snob or feeling that one is above everyone.
The pile of whipped cream gave the idea of the joke
because to whip the cream “montare la panna” uses the same verb (montare).
Many of these jokes from the local culture are similar to puns
and are very funny when one knows the inside story!
My life in Italy
Let me tell you…. I have never seen so many drunk people in all my life in one place as I did tonight!
I am in a neighboring town called Offida where they speak, yet again, their own dialect (called Offidano)
Thank you for your article. Can I ask what dates is the festival on in Ascoli Piceno?
Thanks.
Genrally in February but it depends on the date of the Easter!