Schignano and its ancient and famous carnival

Do you want to know the story of the village of Schignano and its ancient and famous carnival?

The village of Schignano, together with its many hamlets, is placed in the green Val Intelvi. It is situated into a wide valley surrounded by the mountains of Gringo, Comana, l Treviglio, Pizzo della Croce (which is the highest with its 1491 m.), and Mount San Zeno. 
The village is at 650 m. of altitude and includes the hamlets of  Almanno, Auvrascio, Molobbio, Occagno, Perla, Posa, Retegno e Vesbio. Schignano is well known especially for its very ancient and characteristic Carnival, maybe one of the most antiques and peculiars in Italy.

The ancient and famous carnival of Schignano

The ancient carnival of Schignano, which is unique because of its masks, takes place according to the calendar of the Roman Catholic Rite - just like the whole Christian  world (except for the diocese of Milan) -  the Saturday before Shrove Tuesday and the Shrove Tuesday, that is, the last carnival day preceding Ash Wednesday.
Even today, thanks to the participation of the population of Schignano and to the remarkable commitment of the Pro Loco, the carnival has come to us maintaining its ancient and characteristic form of manifestation.

Important and inimitable are the hand-carved walnut -root masks, some dating back two hundred years, which are jealously guarded and are lent exclusively for the Schignano carnival procession. The tradition of sculpting these strange masks is still present in the craftsmanship of Schignano.
The Schignano Carnival representation is based on the contrast of two masked characters: the Beautiful and the Ugly. The mask of the Beautiful has finer features, while the Ugly mask has a rough and grotesque appearance. To describe this carnival, one can talk about an itinerant theater as it takes place along the village lanes and the roads connecting its various hamlets, but its most important stage, where the carnival is celebrated, is the main square of Schignano.

List and description of masks characters:

Sapeaur and La Sigurtà. They are the two masks that open the procession. They are dressed in sheepskins, their faces are painted black and they have big mustaches and long white beards and they wear a special sheepskin headgear. Between the two Sapeaur there is the figure of the Sigurtà, the security, dressed in a military hat, a green-gray coat and a sash with the word Sicurtà.

The Mascarun Bel (the Beautiful): is the mask depicting the "despot squire of the village". He wears a shining and multicolored costume; he has a big belly and walks with similar-elegant and rhythmic movements to make the four "bronze" bells ring, which complete its disguise.

The Mascarun Brut (the Ugly): it is the mask that represents the poor man under the power of the squire. In contrast to the Beautiful, the Ugly is dressed miserably, as a beggar. His movements are also clumsy and burlesque. The costume of the mask includes four cowbells called "ciock".

Ciocia: is the mask that represents the servant and submissive wife of the Mascarun Brut, so she is kept tied with a rope and lead throughout the event as a dog leaping by the Mascarun. She is dressed in old-fashioned, dark-colored women's dresses, she has her face painted with black, and she holds the spindle and distaff, the old-fashioned tools for threading wool. Throughout the event, she curses and insults her despotic husband.

The Carlisep: is the mask represented by a puppet that hangs in the square for a few days of the week, but then, on a Shrove Tuesday, it "magically" gets up and runs along the village streets to escape to be burnt on the bone fire, obviously he is followed by all participants. In the end, however, he is captured and the puppet's bon-fire declares the end of the carnival.

The Fugheti, the procession is accompanied by the "fugheti", which is made by some members of the band of Schignano, which id the "Soundtrack" of t the performance .

Obviously, take part in the procession a good number of disguised adult and children wearing masks, along with a crowd of tourists and curious.