The carnival of Viareggio is one of the most famous events in the world linked to an ancient celebration dating to 4,000 years ago. It seems that the Egiptians, first, and then the Greeks to celebrate the forerunner of the carnival feast which were held between Winter and Spring in honour of the Isis goddess and of Dionysus, respectively.

The Romans inherited the outline of these ritual celebrations for their "Saturnali", and it was just then that the festival slowly transformed itself from a religious rite to a popular tradition. The riotous and uncontrolled character of this ceremony ended when it became part of the Christian occasions. Since such a rooted festival in the peninsula could not be abolished, the Church set it before Lent, a period of abstinence from the most delicious food and time of meditation before Easter. The word "Carnival", in effect, was born from the Latin for "carnem levare" (to eliminate meat) and it recalls that after the excess of the "week before Lent" forty days of austerity had to be respected.
The tradition of Carnaval in Viareggio is more than 130 years old, now. In effect, its first edition dates to 1873, when a group of young people belonging to Viareggio's high society organized the first parade of carts pulled by oxen and adorned with flowers. Shortly after, this idea became so rooted in the town that it became one of Viareggio's symbols. In effect, at the end of the century, the carts were substituted by triumphal carts built by the workers of the shipyards while local sculptors and decorated them.
Another characteristic that soon became one of the carnival' s main features was the allegory of the carts in a satirical key. The parade of the carts with masked young people on them tossing confettis, paper streamers and candies also became the chance to make fun of politicians, habits and events of Italy's life and to give vent to people's discontent with the agreement of authorities and leaders, a peculiarity that still exists today. Despite the joy and the student spirit that characterize it, the Carnival of Viareggio had to stop because of the world wars. With the decline of the "Belle Epoque" and the irreparable lost of many young people sent to the front in World War I, the celebration in Viareggio seemed to end. Instead, in 1921, the parades started again in a different scenario, namely the long seafront, allowing the realization of new stage effects and the construction of bigger carts.
Four years later, in 1925, the papier mâché was introduced. It is a mix of water, glue, plaster and paper that is very light and fit for modelling moving figures to arrange on the carts. This technique was the luck of the carnival and transformed it into a unique event in Italy. In 1930, also the Burlamacco was born. It is the official mask of the Carnival of Viareggio that painter Uberto Bonetti conceived on the basis of the great tradition of the characters of the Commedia dell'Arte.
After the Second World War interrupted the Carnival, it started again with some meaningful novelties. It has been broadcast live on a national level and then on Eurovision since the 50's. Moreover, some years later, part of its historical track in the inner streets of the town was recovered and the quarters' feasts started in the wake of it. Soon, agrimotors substituted the oxen, but the craft of the figures has not changed at all: caricatures, images and puppets parade still today on the streets of Viareggio and colour the Carnival with their joyfulness and impudence.