The "Spillo" and the comic character Bertoldo

A historical carnival in the Pianura Bolognese that boasts a tradition dating back more than a hundred years (this year it turns 150), during which ten carnival societies compete with each other to tell a story.

On the first Sunday of carnival, the floats come out into the open escorted by masked carters, travel along the course, and once they reach the town square, they wait. At predetermined intervals, one at a time, the carters are called by the announcer to the centre of the arena to reveal their allegories, and here comes the magic of the Spillo, from the dialect spél, the theatrical action that transforms the float into something you didn't expect. A riot of fantasy and satire, always referencing current events.  The audience comments and applauds, a jury of experts gives the votes. The judgement is very serious and follows three elements of evaluation: 'Painting and Sculpture', 'Architecture and Construction', 'Subject and Unfolding'.

On the second Sunday of carnival, the results are announced and the jury awards the best carvers with a banner depicting Bertoldo and Bertoldino with the donkey.  

Bertoldo, a literary invention of Persicetan writer Giulio Cesare Croce, is the typical mask of the Persicetan Carnival. In his work 'Le sottilissimi astuzie di Bertoldo' (The Subtle Wiles of Bertoldo), Croce tells of the peasant Bertoldo, a peasant 'with big shoes and a fine brain' who embodies the quintessence of wit, irreverent mockery and direct, matter-of-fact language. However, according to the organisers, the mask's characteristics should have been different from the original character. The carnival Bertoldo would not be the villain in the king's court, but rather the king of playfulness, good humour and good food.