Home

One of the oldest and most interesting folklore events in the Agrigento district is the Sciacca Carnival, deeply rooted in tradition - said by some to draw on expressions of the Florentine carnivals - dating from the fourteenth century. Since then, in fact, there has been a great deal of testimony about this great Sciacca festival, revealing considerable changes, even though some aspects have remained the same: the pungent satire, often inspired by current affairs, denouncement of economic and social ills, and above all the great public participation. At the beginning of the twentieth century the Sciacca Carnival took on the appearance of a real spectacle, enriched by allegorical floats, built with great technical and artistic skill by various associations, and accompanied by groups in costume whose spectacular choreography is demonstrated in dance, recitals and song through the decorated streets of the town. As usual on the Thursday before Shrove Tuesday festivities begin with Peppe 'Nappa, the typical masked figure of the Sciacca Carnival, distributing sausages, wine and sweets along the streets - a tangible sign of local hospitality - and inviting people to enjoy themselves, to forget about their problems. Other curious elements of the Sciacca Carnival are the mini-floats with their reduced size, compared to the real floats. Parades, processions, recitals, competitions, hymns, songs, and wild dancing all surround the main events and make the Sciacca Carnival a riot of happiness and amusement.