Battle of the Oranges 2012 from Andry Verga – Masterblack on Vimeo.

Filmed and Edit by Andry Verga with Canon 550
Music:
Recognize U by James Wynne
Interloper by Kevin MacLeod – Album: Scoring: Tension
Archangel by Two Step from Hell – Archangel ℗ 2011

Ivrea, a town in northwestern Italy is most famous for its traditional carnival celebration. The core of the Carnevale di Ivrea is the famous Battle of the Oranges where thousands of citizens are divided into nine teams who them violently pelt each other with oranges. These orange battles occur on the traditional carnival days of Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Held every year in late February, the celebration revolves around a 12th century legend of a miller’s daughter who refused the local duke’s “right” to spend a night with each newlywed woman in his domain and instead chipped off his head. This refusal lead the commoners in the town revolting against their rulers, they then stormed and burned the palace. Each year a young girl is elected “Mugnaia” and plays the role of Violetta, the miller’s daughter who still today, honored as a local symbol of freedom.

Royal battles are fought in the town’s historical squares between throwers on foot representing the people in revolt and others on waggons drawn by horses in gay trappings, who take the part of the tyrant’s officers. Another feature introduced by the French Revolution is the sort of red woollen nightcap falling over the right shoulder.
Known as the “Phrygian bonnet” by analogy with the cap worn by freed slaves in Rome and adopted in France as a Republican symbol, this is de rigueur for those who venture out between Ivrea’s red towers and the cerulean Dora during carnival time. An account will now be given of the individual items on the calendar of the Ivrea Carnival from Epiphany to Ash Wednesday, the various ceremonies and other events that take place, and their historical background.

There can be no doubt that this is the most spectacular moment of the whole event, clearly depicting the fight for freedom, the symbol of Ivrea Carnival. Together with all the historical events in the Carnival at Ivrea, the orange battle constitutes an incredible cultural and goliardic heritage, making the Carnival one of the most important on the national and international scene. Throwing oranges is also the event in which most people can be involved: anyone can do it by becoming a member of one of the nine foot teams or of one of the groups throwing from a cart.