Carnival of Saponara

In the town of Saponara, a cheerful and colorful Carnival is held every year which attracts, in addition to the inhabitants of the village, many tourists and onlookers who want to see and actively participate in the traditional parade.

The origins of Saponara are very ancient even if the year of its foundation has not yet been discovered which, however, it seems to date back to the XNUMXth century. This theory is due to Castle which dominates the village from the top of a hill and of which only remain few ruins and which is believed to be one Byzantine fortification capable of controlling, given his high position, the movements of the invading Muslims.

Having become a fiefdom in the 1861th century, Saponara was the domain of many noble families until, in XNUMX, it passed under the Kingdom of Italy.
Today it keeps the Carnival of Saponara and its parade unchanged.

The story linked to the Carnival of Saponara

Il Shrove Tuesday every year, to crown the festivities organized to celebrate the Carnival, the Bear Parade and of the Princely court, a secular feast with which the carnival period ends.

This event recalls an episode dating back to the eighteenth century when Saponara belonged to Prince Domenico Alliata di Giovanni who was lord of the fiefdom. Tradition has it that a giant bear suddenly appeared out of nowhere terrorizing the inhabitants, killing animals and causing damage to the countryside.

To solve the problem, the Prince would have organized a real bear hunt by ordering his guards to find him and capture him alive.
When the expedition was successful, the Prince had the chained beast lead through all the streets of the village as a demonstration of the success and this provoked the procession of the entire court which followed the suitably chained bear.

This procession was repeated also the following year and also the one after until the bear remained alive and always for celebrate the narrow escape. Even when the animal died, this tradition continued and assumed the role of historical re-enactment which, given the concomitance of the Carnival, gradually began to be ironic and transgressive just like Shrove Tuesday claims.

A usual rite is that of the shells which is present during the traditional Parade of the Bear and the Princely Court during the last day of Carnival.

The peculiarity is given by the fact that the shells from which a sound that accompanies the procession originates is given by the fact that these, in a paroxysmal way, follow a determined rhythmic sequence marked by the sound of two snare drums which dictate the tempo and which combine their sound with that of the shells.

Although during the event you can hear the music of the musical band and of the various folk groups participating in the event, the sound of the shells stands out and covers an essential function in the representation of the Carnival of Saponara and its parade which is to announce the arrival of the bear mask.

Description of the Carnival of Saponara

Although bound by ropes and chains governed by the tamers, watched over by two hunters and observed by the Prince, the Princess and all the Royal Court, the bear invites the women he meets on his path to dance, however, alternating with this graceful invitation moments where he suddenly becomes aggressive and threatening, trying to replicate certain clichés foreseen by the carnival event.

We have seen that the players of shells, i.e. of brownstones, are an essential element of the event and that they must make the sounds they produce coincide with those of the beating of a drum so that everything forms a single rhythmic cell which is based on a tempo track divided into two fragments consisting of eight sixteenth notes the first and two eighth notes and a quarter note the second.

Practically nothing is left to chance and the tradition, which has been developing for centuries, is carefully respected to avoid false notes of any kind.

During the Princely Procession, the streets of Saponara become locations for a kermesse in which the crowd actively participates, happy to be involved and to form part of the scenography of the event.

When the Carnival of Saponara takes place

The Saponara carnival and its parade is held on Shrove Tuesday each year. For detailed information about the program of the event it is advisable to follow the social networks that promote this event.

Where the Carnival of Saponara takes place

All the streets of the small center are affected by the Carnival of Saponara and its parade and since it is a village of less than four thousand people, everything is somewhat limited.

What to do during the Saponara Carnival

In addition to participating in the Carnival of Saponara and its parade and having seen the village, it is possible to go on excursions in the surroundings and visits to Messina, Taormina, Giardini Naxos, Rometta and Gorges of Alcantara.

How to get to Saponara

By car, the city is connected with Messina, Catania and Palermo - from which it is respectively 25 and 225 km away - both by the State Road 113 and by the A20 (exit at the Rometta tollbooth).