This weekend was one of the coolest weekends of my life! In northern Italy there is a teeny tiny town called Ivera. Ivrea has almost nothing to do except once a year they have a festival called Storico Carnevale di Ivrea. The festival consists of a battle that commemorates the city's defiance against their tyrant. The tyrant tried to rape a young commoner, Miller's daughter, on her wedding night. Miller's daughter instead decapitated him then stormed and burned his palace. Every year the citizens remember their liberation with the Battle of the Oranges. 9 teams of 4,000 people throw oranges at people riding in carts that represent the tyrants ranks.
When we got to Ivrea we were kind of nervous because there were no people in sight. We were the only people in the town, so we weren't sure how fun the festival would be. Then around 5:00 on Saturday THOUSANDS of people showed up out of nowhere and it was like a giant party. There was a street of carnival style food and I had about 10 hot dogs. I miss American hot dogs so much. There was music and a lot of family friendly fun. Everyone in the town dresses up in their teams colors and the night before the battle it is just a huge celebration.
The orange battle begins on Sunday. Everyone goes to their team's designated battle zone and grabs as many oranges as they can hold. I wish I could give you an idea of how many oranges they use, but it was too many for me to even guess. If you are not on a team you can wear a traditional red sock-hat so people know not to throw oranges at you. There are also nets strung along the entire city that you can stand behind, so you won't get hit. At first we stood behind the nets, but then we got brave enough to go in the battle zone. We thought we wouldn't get hit because we had the hats on, but there is no possible way to avoid it. Oranges are flying everywhere. Everyone stands in the square then waits for a cart full of people to ride through. The cart throws oranges at the people on the ground and the people on the ground throw oranges at the cart. When the cart gets on the square everyone goes crazy. People do not go easy! It is extremely intense.
The festival was awesome. We did not want to leave when we did. Luckily, we left just in time though! For the first time in history the festival ended early to prevent any possible spreading of Coronavirus.
Overall this weekend was awesome and truly indescribable.
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Communication major Kayleigh Hughes is spending the Spring 2020 semester abroad with the Global Studies Program at the University ofArkansas Rome Center with the help of our Office of Study Abroad Scholarship.
Don't miss your opportunity to study or intern abroad! Start your search at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/search/
Communication major Kayleigh Hughes is spending the Spring 2020 semester abroad with the Global Studies Program at the University ofArkansas Rome Center with the help of our Office of Study Abroad Scholarship.
Don't miss your opportunity to study or intern abroad! Start your search at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/search/
