Torri’s September Carnival Celebrates Tradition, Voting, and Festivities

All set for the sixth edition of the September Carnival, organized by the Re Berengario Primo event committee. And so, on Saturday, starting early in the morning, ending late at night with the spectacular fireworks display that begins with fireworks launching from the lake waters and from the towers of the Castello scaligero overlooking the lakeside promenade, the late summer event will commence, which has now become a “fixed point at the conclusion of Torri’s summer tourist season,” explained the Mayor of Torri, Alberto Vedovelli.

From ten o’clock in the morning, in the port square, the classic cars and vintage motorcycles from the most important provincial groups will begin to gather. The legendary vehicles will then parade through the streets of Torri and the hamlets of Pai and Albisano. Starting at 3 p.m., the official polling stations will open for voting and selecting Re Beregario Primo, the symbol mask of the entire event, who will later be called to represent the Torrian carnival throughout the year at various events.

Voting and performances

In the previous edition, the trophy went to Marco Fava, who is also a frontrunner again this year to try and defend his title as the head of Torri’s carnival. However, the competition will be particularly young and fierce this time. Challenging Fava are the slightly over twenty-year-olds Bruno Auriemma and Michele Fava, who, incidentally, are not related to the current reigning sire.

At the end of the voting, whose result will only be known in the evening, when the coronation of Re Berengario Primo takes place— the first King of Italy to have stayed in the village— there will be performances by street artists from the Gardaland Amusement Park. The masked groups from the grand carnival of Verona and many other towns in the province are scheduled to arrive by 5:30 p.m.

Groups and masks

“All the groups participating in the provincial carnival,” announced the president of the event committee Antonia Consolini, “have confirmed their attendance and will parade through the streets of Torri on Saturday. Furthermore, this year, unlike previous editions, we will also host the Grenz Lander, a group of jumpers, acrobats, and dancers from Cologne, Germany, to participate in our Carnival.”

“We hope,” Consolini joked, “for good weather, even though this year we probably won’t have any issues since we booked it well in advance.” At 8 p.m., at Villa Melisa on the Paradiso lakeside promenade, all the masks will gather, who will parade starting at 8:30 p.m., in honor of the new Re Berengario. The fireworks display is scheduled for 11:30 p.m.

Closing with performances and acknowledgments

“The September Carnival of Torri,” concluded the President of the Azienda di promozione turistica, Enrico Merenda, “is an event of paramount importance for the entire Veronese shore. More than a carnival, it’s a genuine carnival festival in honor of the guests who stayed until the end of the summer tourist season. The Promotion Company strongly supports this event, which has, in just a few years, truly earned a prominent position.”

Gerardo Musuraca