One of Italy's most traditional and spectacular Carnivals sparks off on the 17 January, the Feast Day of St. Antonio the Abbot at the historic town of Offida (Marche) and carries on till the Grand Finale on Shrove Tuesday, 25th February 2020. The culmination of the festivities is concentrated on the last weekend (Friday 21st – Tuesday 25th) leading up to Shrove Tuesday, the eve of the start of Lent. On Friday 21st visitors can watch the ancient procession of the (Fake Ox), a dummy bull made of metal and wood, that is carried all round the town and then subjected to an imitation baiting, while Shrove Tuesday brings Carnival jollity to an end with the, a procession of over a hundred towering flaming torches that ends in the central piazza with a giant bonfire. The fun does not end there, however. In mid-Lent there is a night-long party, known as the (eye mask in local dialect), which awards prizes to the best costumed groups in the lavishly decorated 19th century Golden Snake Theatre (so-named after a local legend). Offida is a beautifully preserved medieval town, full of historic buildings, including the fascinating gothic Santa Maria della Rocca. The town has a six-century-long tradition in lacemaking that is still carried on today. The town's Lace Museum contains beautiful examples of the art including a handmade dress made by the Offida lacemakers and worn by model Naomi Campbell in a fashion show in London in 1997.
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