The Aradeino Carnival, promoted by the Carnival Group “Oscar Tramacere” and sponsored by the Municipality of Aradeo, the Province of Lecce and the Puglia Region, is an event with a history that dates back to 1990. It takes place on the Sunday before Shrove Tuesday and on the Tuesday itself.
Many large floats parade during the parade, dozens of masked groups, challenging each other with spectacular choreographies and colorful costumes. Over 2000 costumed figures, coming from Aradeo and neighboring towns.
The Sunday parade of floats and masks starts at 3:30 p.m., with the confetti and enthusiasm typical of the Aradeino Carnival. On Shrove Tuesday, again at 3:30 p.m., the replica of the parade of floats and masks takes place and the narration of the legendary mask of the “Sciacuddhruzzi” takes place. The initiative involves several schools of Salento every year and culminates in the two large parades at the end of the carnival.
The magic of Carnival envelops the little ones during the tale, as legendary as it is real, thanks also to the presence of some papier-mâché creations of the mischievous little sprite.
Elves are the magical figures par excellence in all European, Mediterranean and Nordic fairy tales. In Salento, the belief in sciacuddrhuzzi, invisible beings with bizarre and mischievous behavior, is deeply rooted.
The narration tells the story of a Salento elf who is affable and a good-time person, but who, when irritated, becomes mischievous and capricious. The Salento elfs are called in various ways: Laurieddhri (from Lauro, the name of the tree where they often have their home), Carcaluri (which derives from the Salento word “calcare”, meaning to press, crush), Sciacuddhri or Sciacuddhruzzi, Scazzamurieddhi (literally he crushes lids), Munaceddhi or Municeddhi. In Aradeo “lu sciacuddhruzzi” with his pointed red hat is the mascot of the great Carnival celebration, and he mixes in with the many masks, playing pranks left and right.
The Province of Lecce continues to be at the side of the Municipalities of Salento and, in this case, present and close to Aradeo, in the process of recovery and enhancement of this beautiful tradition, which is in line with the possibility of offering a real deseasonalization of tourist flows and routes, an attention to Salento that goes beyond the naturalistic and architectural beauties.
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