Venice or Rome; these are the closest urbs to the seat of the Roman church and thus were among the first communities to implement the festive reaction to the church's promulgation of the abstinential season of Lent.
Of course, Only a few hundred years prior to the church's advent there were the Roman feasts of Saturnalia and Lupercalia. Also, there was the Jewish festival of Purim. It has distinct connections to carnivalities.
But Alexander Orloff says, in his terrific Carnival, Myth and Cult (an Austrian book) that we can find the mid-winter masked fetes in Africa and even Mesopotamia.
Carnival fun is universal; it's catholic in both senses. So it's no wonder that even Protestant North Louisiana now observes carnival.
Feb. 3 at Artspace: B & N Costume Workshop!
Please see below.
