Sardinian Carnival

Sacred and profane, passion and identity, exciting rhythms and magnificent settings like the one at Gavoi, where the tumbarinos (drummers) play. In every town, from the North to the South, you can enjoy typical carnival delicacies like fava beans and lard, pistiddu and coccone, zeppole (doughnuts) and fine wine.

Traditional masks, the de su connottu, re-enact episodes of rural life, they speak of the weather and the environment. In many communities of the Barbagia, deep in the heart of Sardinia, mysterious re-enactments unleash intense emotions in an atmosphere of dizzying euphoria. The main players in the Mamoiada are the Mamuthones. Dressed black sheepskins, they hide their faces behind grotesque wooden masks and perform ancestral dances to the rhythm of the cowbells they carry on their backs. All the while, Issohadores clad in red shirts and white masks attempt to capture the grotesque animal masks (and distracted spectators), with a lasso. In Ottana there are the Boes and Merdules, while in Orotelli the Thurpos (blind) are clad in hooded coats, their faces smeared with soot from the bonfires to symbolise the relationship between man and animals, master and slave. S’Urzu (monster or bear) is the head of a ram with long horns adorned with a black lady’s handkerchief. It represents a character typical of Fonni and other towns outside of Oristano, like Samugheo and Ula Tirso