CARNIVAL AND LANDZETTES

Carnival is one of the most heartfelt traditions in Valpelline and the Gran San Bernardo Valley. Every year, the inhabitants shed their ordinary citizens' clothes to put on the historical "landzette", the typical carnival masks of the Alpine valleys bordering Switzerland. These costumes, decorated with sequin embroidery, flowers and mirrors, consist of trousers, a waistcoat, a swallow-tailed jacket, a shirt, a belt with gorgoilles (little bells) and a hat to which coloured ribbons are attached. Tradition has it that this veritable Valpelline carnival mask recalls the passage of Napoleon's troops through the  Gran San Bernardo valley, as the hat is reminiscent of that of Napoleon who entered Italy through this Alpine pass.

In the past, the fabric was a very heavy cotton matie, which has now been replaced by velvet. Red, white and black dominate the costumes, followed by green, purple, blue and orange. The dominant colours have a precise symbolic meaning. Red is a symbol of strength and vigour and exorcises evil and misfortune, black represents the darkness of the long winter nights and white represents spring.

The main function of mirrors is to catch the sun's rays and ward off all dark and evil presences. A similar function is performed by the gorgoillon or gorgoilles, which are nothing more than heavy rattles worn around the waist. Each landzetta holds in her hands a horsehair representing the wind, which chases away the cold and evil spirits, thus allowing the arrival of spring and therefore the favourable season for agriculture. The face is then hidden by masks, which were once made from tree bark, but are now replaced by plastic materials, although there is a return to the use of wooden masks.

Leading the group is the flag bearer who proudly waves the Carnival banner. His face is often covered by a moustache and glasses, clear symbols of his undisputed authority. He is followed by musicians, the joueurs, who play accordions and saxophones, while some carnivals still have the Arlequins and Demoiselles representing young couples.

The masks of lo Toque and la Tocca personify the two elderly newlyweds who are the protagonists of a famous legend. They clearly show the reversal of roles that Carnival brings with it, since in real life in the village it is the young people who get married.

In this inverted representation of reality, of course, animals and their society also appear: proceeding with a swaying gait and making strange noises, come the bears, wild presences symbolising the forces of nature usually unfavourable to man, on which, however, he intervenes trying to impose himself and fight; the tamer, in fact, controls the animal, follows it and sometimes manages to keep it on a leash.

The parade is closed by the doctor and the curate, other central figures in Alpine village societies. One tries to cure physical ailments, the other spiritual ailments.

Another characteristic mask of these carnivals is the devil, wrapped in his red cloak edged in gold and adorned with bells; an elegant representative of all evil and incomprehensible forces, he chases and tries to strike people with the classic pitchfork.

For some years now, the "Comité du Carnaval de Bionaz" has also been organising a masked competition for children.

Participating in the carnival in these valleys is a unique experience, above all because it allows you to witness a ritual that is still very much felt and participated in: the houses of the inhabitants open up and the masked people enter them to celebrate the reversal of reality and the brief period of the year when everything, or almost everything, is permitted.