26-Feb-2006

The update and also the article:

The Orange Battle of Ivrea

If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes I would think that the event that I am about to describe might have come right out of a book written by Dr. Suess. However, I can surely say that it took place and is going to continue until Tuesday.

In a little town outside of Torino during the 12th century, a Count presided over the village of Ivrea. This Count was a nasty one of sorts and proclaimed that he was welcome to any maiden that was about to be married. This went on until one feisty miller’s daughter decided that it had gone on long enough and sparked a revolt against the tyrant by the impoverished townspeople. The whole town rebelled by throwing stones at all of the tyrant’s troops. This desperate uprising went down into the town’s history and eventually became cause for local gangs to stage an annual riot for carnival..

By the time Napoleon came to rule the land, in the 19th century, he ordered everyone to wear red bonnets and brought the fatal uprising down a notch by requiring the use or oranges instead of stones. Some 400,000 kg (roughly 800,000lbs) of oranges are transported to Ivrea from Sicily for this very event.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to witness this mayhem and I must admit, I think it was better than many carnivals that I’ve been to in the USA. There was a parade in which this year’s maiden was presented with bands and horses galore but the parade was by no means the main event. All through the town I saw wagons full of people dressed in bright colors and as it turned out, neighborhood emblems being led by two or four horses that were also elaborately costumed. I couldn’t even count the amount of horse drawn wagons that I saw.

There are four main squares and the approximately 30 roaming carts each with ten “soldiers.” The soldiered wagons then travel to different squares and that’s where it really gets ugly. All of the people in the square, most natives but some are spectators, pound the people in the wagon with as many oranges as they can between the time they enter the square and the time they exit. The people in the wagon get to defend themselves by throwing back the oranges. These aren’t just nice little tosses either; these are second base to catcher throws in the NBL. Luckily, the people in the wagon wear helmets and what looked like football pads, but the people in the square are wearing nothing but their decorative clothes.

Sometimes as a wagon would leave the square, a few people would trail behind them into the “pedestrian zone.” This would lead to a pummeling, usually the person in the wagon was victorious because the person on the ground couldn’t really shield himself or herself as he or she threw oranges. Then after the battlers decided that it was enough, the person on the wagon would take off his helmet and they would shake hands and laugh about how they just whipped oranges hard enough to do bodily harm and exchange a few words of praise about the battle.

As a spectator, the rule goes that if you do not want to get hit, you have to wear something red on your head. As my teacher warned us, this is more of a guideline than a rule. Wouldn’t you know that I left all of my red headgear in America and thus purchased what I can best describe as a sleeping cap to ensure my safe travels through the squares. The town sets up huge nets for people to go behind if you really do not want to get hit. Since I decided those nets were for sissies, I usually ventured into the square and even caught a few wayward oranges. Nothing as serious as the man I saw being led out by paramedics who was definitely bleeding from the nose/mouth area; but the oranges hurt nonetheless.

All in all, I must say that this carnival is one I will remember for a very long time. I couldn’t help but laugh as I gave up trying to avoid steping on the mash of orange and horse manure at my feet. I wouldn’t at all be opposed to visiting another year and watching the games again. Maybe the Olympics should pick up on this time-honored tradition and add it to the schedule for the closing ceremony…