Reporter's Diary: An Inspirational festival – the Viareggio Carnival

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Europe

The first thing I did when I arrived in Viareggio was to buy a bright blue wig. I had immediately realized when I started walking on the main street of the city that people were all dressed up.

Kids, adults, parents with matching outfits with their babies; my favorite was a mother dressed as Frida with her baby dressed the same as well. I loved it.

It seemed everyone wanted to be a part of the festival, not just a spectator. Stalls on the streets were selling all kinds of fun accessories. My fixer Lorella Muzi thought blue worked best for me, so I wore the wig on the live streaming I did for CGTN's social media pages. I thought I'd have fun with it; might as well make the most of it while I can go a little crazy on screen.

CGTN reporter Michal Bardavid reporting at the Viareggio Festival. /CGTN Photo

The Viareggio Carnival has been going on for over 140 years. The name of the city has become synonymous with the festival. Just like when you say Venice, one often pictures a mask in mind, if you say Viareggio – giant artworks made of paper-mache would probably pop in mind.

What really inspired me about this festival was how meaningful it was. Yes – the event is like one big party – and it's a whole lot of fun. But there is so much thought behind it. The parade has about a dozen floats gliding through the streets – massive, artistic, allegorical paper-mache floats.

But each one has a theme. Some were very political – there were two floats of U.S. President Donald Trump.

One I found to be quite entertaining. The "Moon Dream" float of Trump had him wearing PJs, surrounded by stars with a bright moon and spaceship behind him. The description read: "Trump's dreams of returning to our satellite to reaffirm American supremacy." Clearly many enjoy mocking Trump in Italy. Not surprising.

U.S. President Donald Trump was represented by a float at the festival parade. /CGTN Photo

As part of my job – being based in Turkey – I have covered the refugee crisis intensely. I witnessed thousands of refugees as they fled to the Turkish border, luggage in hand, sometimes after walking for hours or days. I talked with hundreds of refugees and know of the horrors they were trying to escape. Here in Italy – migration is also an issue that locals are very much aware of.

Some, like the current government – have harsh anti-immigrant views. Others – like the President of the Viareggio Festival Foundation, Maria Lina Marcucci –instead want to embrace and welcome refugees. She took part in the live stream we did on CGTN's Facebook page and talked about the attitude of the town of Viareggio.

Viareggio Festival foundation president Maria Lina Marcucci (L) is interviewed by Michal Bardavid. /CGTN Photo

Marcucci emphasized that the town wants to welcome people in need and give them the message that there is always hope. I wanted to hug her during the interview. How lovely to meet such people during our coverage. Certainly gave me hope.

One of the floats was dedicated to migrants. It portrayed a ship with people reaching out and others below trying to survive waters. The artist intended to show the tragedy of migration taking place with a float that was inspired by the famous painting, “The raft of the Medusa.” It was striking.

There were other important global issues that were depicted beautifully through art, like a massive whale entangled in plastic that was all about the environment and pollution.

Floats at the festival. /CGTN Photo

But there was a different one that I found really powerful as it was related to children. The issue was bullying. Beasts that hid behind a wall appeared with large claws ripping through a gigantic book, representing the evil that can be hidden even in the safest places.

As I saw many children together with their parents, I thought it was important for them to visually see bullying, portrayed as the beast within that, can be hurtful.

And, well, I have to mention the music. It's nonstop as soon as the day begins, restaurants start playing tunes on the streets and as the parade begins, each truck blasts its own music. We danced along to each one and was even pulled inside one of the dance teams to tag along with them.

All in all, I had a wonderful experience reporting on this festival. The Viareggio president Marcucci and the festival itself represented what I want to see more in the world, including hope, love, inclusiveness, creativity and joy.

(Head Image: Whale float at the Viareggio Festival. /CGTN Photo)