The Viareggio Carnival with its giant allegorical floats and beautiful costumes is probably the most famous Carnevale in Italy, but there’s another important carnival which in my opinion is second to none; it takes place in the small town of Putignano in Apulia and has its roots in Ancient times when people still believed in the gods and Greece was the country to look up to; the Putignano Carnival was partly inspired by the propitiatory rites of Bacchus who was known to the Greeks as Dionysus; the relaxation of all ordinary rules of conduct and the inversion of customary social status were and still are its key ingredients.
This year, the Putignano Carnival will take place on 15; 22; 24 February 2009 and will be dedicated to the masks, myths and rites of the Mediterranean world (tickets are free)