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Carnevale dei Bambini
di Orentano

Carnevale dei Bambini di Orentano, 70th edition

Carnevale 2027 · 70th edition

Parade days

  1. Sunday Masked parade
  2. Sunday Masked parade
  3. Sunday Masked parade
  4. Shrove Tuesday Dinner, bonfire and fireworks
  5. Sunday · the last Masked parade

An event by the Ente Carnevale dei Bambini Pro Loco di Orentano

On parade day

Good to know

Getting here

Orentano (PI), 56022: a village of Castelfranco di Sotto, between Lucca and Pisa.

  • By car, from the A11 Firenze–Pisa Nord motorway: exit at Altopascio, then south to Orentano (about 10 minutes).
  • By car, from the FI-PI-LI expressway: exit at Santa Croce sull’Arno or Montopoli, cross the Arno and head north through Castelfranco di Sotto (about 20 minutes).
  • By train: there is no station in Orentano. The nearest are Altopascio (about 8 km) and San Miniato–Fucecchio (about 12 km); from there you need a taxi or a lift.
  • By plane: Pisa airport is about 35 km away, Florence about 55 km.

Open Orentano on the map(opens in a new tab) The full guide on Orentano News(opens in a new tab)

Entry

No tickets: entry is by free donation, give what you wish.

If a child gets lost
  • Before you leave, take a photo of your child, dressed as they are today.
  • Write your phone number on their arm.
  • Emergencies: 112.
Food and places to stay

Where to eat and where to stay in the village: the Orentano News guides.

Where to eat and drink(opens in a new tab)Where to stay(opens in a new tab)

The dates in your calendar

The five dates, ready to add to your phone’s calendar, are also on Orentano News.

Carnevale dei Bambini 2027 on Orentano News(opens in a new tab)

Seventy editions

From a donkey cart to floats

  1. 1956
    «Ai miei ragazzi — disse l'Arciprete — vedrò di fargli fare due risate!» … «lo fanno a Viareggio e a Rio / e, il Carnevale, voglio farlo anch'io!»

    “For my kids,” said the Archpriest, “I’ll see that they have a laugh!” … “They do it in Viareggio and in Rio / and I want to have a Carnival too!”

    Don Livio Costagli in verses by Aristide Cristiani, «25 anni di Carnevale», 1980, p. 7

  2. 1956
    «Nacque miserello nel 1956, con un carretto trainato dal somaro del Bartoli, colmo di bambini mascherati con le sottane e le cuffie delle nonne.»

    “It was born humble in 1956, with a cart pulled by Bartoli’s donkey, full of children masked in their grandmothers’ skirts and bonnets.”

    «25 anni di Carnevale», 1980, p. 16

  3. 1973

    A society is founded to buy the land for the Capannone, “for building, sheltering and keeping the allegorical floats”.

    «25 anni di Carnevale», 1980, p. 10

  4. 1980
    «i protagonisti del CARNEVALE sono oggi come allora I BAMBINI»

    “the protagonists of the CARNIVAL are, today as then, THE CHILDREN”

    «25 anni di Carnevale», 1980, p. 3

    Illustrated cover of the commemorative issue “25 anni di Carnevale”, Orentano 1980
    The cover of the 1980 commemorative issue, drawn by the painter Alberto Parducci. The Carnevale’s commemorative issues
Then Don Livio Costagli, in his cassock, beside an old litter decorated with coloured paper and full of masked children; black and white photograph
Don Livio Costagli and the decorated «lettiga» (litter) at one of the first parades. «25 anni di Carnevale», 1980, p. 11.
Today Balloons rising over a square full of children and families
Balloons over a square full of families.

The new mascot

Meet the new mascot

Our mark come to life: the globe of Orentano with the cone hat and the red nose. He walks, shakes hands and poses for photos with the children.

Drawing of the carnival’s new mascot: a blue globe head, a cone hat and a red nose, a red waistcoat with a ruff, waving with open arms

Not just the Carnevale

The Ente’s other festivals

  • Volunteers in chef’s hats rolling out pizza dough on a long floured counter

    June and July

    Sagra della Pizza di Orentano

    The pizza and beer festival: five wood-fired ovens, 200 to 250 pizzas a night, Tuscan dishes and music from the band.

  • The Dolcione shaped like the Colosseum, made of pastry and sugar, lit up at night among the crowd

    August

    Festa del Bignè di Orentano

    For the patron saint’s feast, the pastry chefs who live or have lived in Orentano make the «Dolcione»: since 1987 a sculpture of sugar, butter, eggs and flour.