Battle of the Oranges
The Battle of the Oranges is a festival in Ivrea in northern Italy. The townspeople throw oranges at each other. The festival happens every year. It lasts three days. It is right before Shrove Tuesday, which means it is right before the Catholic Lent season.
Legend says the festival started when the townspeople killed an evil duke. The duke wanted to have sex with women on their wedding nights, so the people started fighting. A miller's daughter named Violetta cut off the duke's head. The orange fights are between people pretending to be the duke's men and people pretending to be Violetta's helpers.[1]
The battle uses about 500,000 kilos of oranges each year. Nine teams fight on foot against about 50 carriages. People who don't want to fight can wear red caps to show they are just watching.[2] Some families have been part of the same team for many generations.
There was no festival in 1915-18, 1942-45 nor 2021.
Related pages
[change | change source]References
[change | change source]- ↑ "In pictures: The battle of the oranges". BBC. February 20, 2020. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
- ↑ Dina (2024-12-19). "Battle of the Oranges: Ivrea's Historic Carnival". My Pretty Travels. Retrieved 2025-01-10.