{:en}PRESS RELEASE (5/29/2017)
The Carnevalöa has been recognized by the Ministry of Heritage and Culture as “historical carnival” which plays a role in promoting tourism in the area. And for this reason, the Municipality of Loano, by participating in the Ministry of Cultural Heritage's call for proposals, obtained a grant of 20 thousand euros.
In the list of “historic carnivals” compiled by the Ministry, Carnevaloà appears alongside such prestigious carnivals as those of Viareggio, Venice, Putigliano, Ivrea, Cento, Fano and Sanremo, the only Ligurian municipality on the list along with Loano.
“The Ministry's recognition," say the Mayor. Luigi Pignocca and Councillor Remo Zaccaria - crowns the efforts of the Old Loano Association, which has been coordinating, organizing and keeping alive the ancient carnival tradition for 25 years. Throughout the years, the City of Loano has stood by the association, supporting its activities. Unfortunately, in 2010 a fire destroyed part of the floats. This incident, however, did not extinguish the enthusiasm and drive. The City of Loano committed itself to the construction of a new shed, and in 2015 with the inauguration of the structure, work on the construction of the floats by the Old Loano Association resumed. Thanks to the construction of 11 new floats in 2016, Carnevalöa has once again become one of Liguria's signature events. And now this recognition enshrines the historical, cultural and touristic value of this project.”
The Loano carnival has more than 100 years of history, and over time several associations have taken turns carrying on this tradition: the “Loano Sports Union,” the “Red Circle,” the “Fetaia,” the “Edelweiss,” the “Oriental Bluman Carovan” group, the “Puè Pepin” Association , the ’Azienda Autonoma di Turismo e Soggiorno” and from the 1992 touch to the Association of “Old Loano” with the support of the’Department of Tourism, Culture and Sports of the City of Loano.
Over the past 25 years, the Loano carnival has come to be recognized by the region as the “biggest carnival in Liguria” as the number of floats, and for the past few years has included an Italian commedia dell'arte mask, Captain Fracassa which together with Puè Pepin, King of the Loano Carnival since 1950 and U Beciancin, a goliardic character from the early 1900s and official mask, make up a carnival trio now known throughout Italy.
Loano, along with Parma, Turin, Vercelli, Castelnuovo Don Bosco (Asti), Busca (Cuneo), Verona, Aosta, Acerra (Naples), Catanzaro, Polignano a Mare (Bari), Sciacca (Agrigento) is a co-founder of the “National Coordination Center of Italian Masks.”.
The long-standing passion of the Old Loano Association for the historical and cultural value of the mask tradition, in agreement with other national associations, helped promote and establish the first “Italian mask registry” where all the Italian commedia dell'arte masks and folkloric characters from various regional realities are recorded.
The goal of the initiative is to enhance the carnival not only as an occasion for fun but also as a historical, traditional, cultural and tourist resource.{:}
