New carnival in Rome will compete with Venice Jan 26, 2010

Bookmark this article:

In the end of February this year the authorities of the city of Rome decided to hold a carnival again that was last held on the streets of the city in the eighth century.

The dates of the revived event will happen at the same time as the world-famous Carnival in Venice, both will take place from February 6 to 16.

To avoid any rumors of rivalry between the two cities, the events will be "twinned", with Venetian artists taking part in Rome celebrations and musicians from Rome's Opera performing at Venice's Fenice opera house. More than 40 events will be held in the Italian capital during 10 days. They will feature fireworks, colorful shows and parades-processions on the streets with the participants dressed in costumes "butteri", Italy's cowboys.

One of the organizers of the event, Fabiana Magri, reports that sponsors financed 1.4 million dollars in carnival.

The opening carnival procession will start from Piazza del Popolo along Via del Corso. The exhibition called "The Roman carnival" will take place at Palazzo Braschi. A test carnival was already carried out in Rome last year and authorities realized that the idea was very popular since it attracted about 200,000 tourists and local residents.