English
The spirit of the Historical Carnival endures in the commemoration of an episode of freeing from tyranny dating back to Middle Age. The people revolt, culminated with the beheading of the tyrant that used to starve the town, was leaded by a bride, a miller’s daughter, who refused to undergo the jus primae noctis. With this commemoration, our Carnival every year is a renewed great town Feast during which the whole people of Ivrea celebrates its self-determination.
The Miller’s Daughter is the heroine of the feast and she is accompanied by the General, that since the beginning of XIX century is in charge of the correct and proper development of the event, with the help of his Staff, composed by valiant Officers and Sutlers.
The gallery of the historical characters is completed with the Assistant Grand Chancellor, the Magnificent Podestà, guarantor of the town freedom, the Parade of the Flags of the Parishes, represented by the young Priors, the so-called Abbà, and the Pipes and Drums.
The colourful and spectacular Orange Battle fills the whole city centre with its scents and the deep feeling and involvement that participants pour into the commemoration of the people’s rebellion to tyranny.
During the battle, the poor people of the city, represented by the orange-throwers on foot, without any kind of protection, fight with oranges against the soldiers of the tyrant, personified by the orange-throwers, strongly shielded and masked, mounted on horse-drawn carts.
Starting from the last Thursday before Lent, as a sign of participation to the feast, all town dwellers and visitors, wear the so-called Phrygian Cap, a red cap, in shape of a sock, that represents the will to join the revolt as well as the aspiration to freedom, as it has been for the protagonists of the French Revolution.
