The Carnival of Sanremo, the City of Flowers
The Carnival of Sanremo is an event that you should consider to attend if you are in Liguria around the 10th of March 2019.
Sanremo is a lovely coastal city, particularly famous in Italy for two reasons. First, it hosts the most popular music festival of the country. Second, the area of Sanremo is home of an intense production of flowers, that’s why it’s called the Floral City.
Sanremo, the Floral City
Sanremo is located a few kilometers from the French border and the city of Nice.
It’s the most appreciated tourist destination on the Riviera dei Fiori, a stretch of the Ligurian coast in which wonderful flowers are cultivated and exported all over the world. Just to give you an example, the flowers that decorate the Golden Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna for the New Year’s Concert come from Sanremo.
The mild climate, the architecture of the buildings, the casinò and the many ornamental plants that embellish the streets make Sanremo an elegant city, particularly perfect for those who are looking for a luxury-like holiday.
The city administration has always considered thefloriculture as a fundamental activity for the local economy, that’s why they turn every public space into a showcase for carnations, roses and other pants. Not only the native ones. Along the streets of Sanremo you can see palm trees and other exotic plants that have adapted well to the city’s favorable climate.
Walking along the alleys or the promenade is a truly pleasant and relaxing experience, but if you want to enjoy flowers and plants at their best you should visits some of the lovely city gardens, such as the Marsiglia garden with its small rills, ponds and small waterfalls.
In Saremo there are also plenty of gorgeous villas built during the 19th century, like those along Corso. Unfortunately most of them are private and their gardens can be visited. Villa Zirio, Bellevue Palace, Villa Ormond and Villa Nobel are open to public.
The Carnival Floats of Sanremo
Flowers are the backbone of the Carnival of Sanremo.
The first edition of the Carnival of Sanremo took place in 1904 and it was just a parade of carriages decorated with flowers. However, this simple idea was so appreciated that in a few years it became an annual event and was also broadcast on tv. Then, I don’t know the reason, the parade was held for almost 20 years and was resumed only in the 80s, when the carriages were replaced with carnival floats.
A similar parade of floral floats takes place also during Carnival of Acireale However, the floats of the Carnival Of Sanremo aren’t only decorated with flowers. They are completely made of them!
The construction of the float itself may last a few months, but the positioning of every single flower to create the characters and the sets has to be done in a single night, in order to preserve the freshness, the colors and the scents of the flowers.
It’s a huge job! It requires a lot of care, love and high quality flowers.
The result is so beautiful that every year thousands of people come to Sanremo for the parade.
The parade takes place along the promenade and the floats are accompanied by musical bands and figures in costumes. Everyone can watch the parade, since the access to the course is free, but there are also some stands with paid seats.
If you’ve never been to Liguria, the Carnival of Sanremo and its floral parade are a good excuse to plan a holiday.
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