Ladies and gentlemen, the Carnevale di Larino 2027 has pressed START. On Saturday 3 October 2026, in the setting of the Roman Amphitheatre, the official poster and the 10 sketches for the 52nd editionwere presented: 4 first-category floats, 2 second-category floats and 4 individual masks. For now they are pencils, colours and sheets of paper, but in a few months they will become papier-mâché, moving parts and giants.
There is no shortage of themes: legality and freedom, time racing by and dreams, the protection of animals and nature, the fragility of our planet, right through to the appearances, illusions and contradictions of today’s society.
A festival born from the community
Carnival in Larino is a tradition dating from the early 20th century: most accounts go back to the 1920s, when girls dressed up as Pacchianelle, in traditional costume with tambourines, and boys in sailor suits, knocking on doors around the town singing and dancing in exchange for eggs and sausage. Following these customs, the Carnival as we know it today was born in 1975, with the first allegorical floats built thanks to the efforts of the parish priests and the parish community, above all its young people.
Today the event is organised by the Comune di Larino together with the Associazione Culturale Larinella, founded in 2011, and in 2019 it was recognised by the Ministry as a historic Carnival of Italy. The full story is told on the official website of the Carnevale di Larino.
The 2027 poster: from mosaic to pixel
«This year we decided to play with time»: that is how the organisers announced the presentation. The poster for the 52nd edition starts from Larino’s history and its mosaics: the tiles become pixels, the ancient meets the contemporary and Larinella, the mascot, finds herself suspended between past, present and future. An invitation to play that will run through the whole edition.
The 2027 floats and masks
First-category floats
Dietro lo specchio
Gioventù Frentana
Sogni appesi
Associazione I Gatti Randagi
Il profumo della libertà
L’attimo fuggente
Second-category floats
Occhio Pinocchio
Associazione culturale “I Sognatori”
L’ultima caccia
Associazione I Trebbiatori
Individual masks
Non tutto è ciò che sembra
E.T. La Terra chiede aiuto
Tagliare con cura per proteggere la natura
Topolino e Paperino al carnevale di Larino
The competing groups include historic names in Larino papier-mâché. Gioventù Frentana, founded in 2000 by a group of friends, presents itself as the longest-running group in the Carnevale di Larino. I Gatti Randagi, founded in 2005 by two cousins with a passion for papier-mâché, proudly recall ten consecutive wins and floats up to 15 metres high. Their stories are on the page of the participating groups.
In the second category, L’ultima caccia is by the Associazione I Trebbiatori.
The admission of the sketches was made official by the Comune with thepublic notice of 28 September 2026.
The sketches
Browse the gallery and let yourself be won over.
From paper to Piano San Leonardo
The building teams work in the workshops from the autumn: first the iron frames, then the newspaper and brown paper that give the figures their shape, and finally the painting and the mechanical movements. In the parade each float is preceded by its own dance troupe, which echoes the theme with costumes and choreography, and the works are judged by a jury. The parades, which until 2002 also passed through the historic centre, take place on Piano San Leonardo, as the Ministry of Culture’s portal explains Tracce di un popolo.
There will be plenty of sleepless nights in the workshops: we’ll tell you how the characters and stories in these sketches take shape.
How to follow the Carnevale di Larino
Official updates come from the website carnevaledilarino.com, from the Carnevale di Larino’s social pages (on Instagram @carnevaledilarino) and from the website of the Comune di Larino. You’ll also find the dates, route and history of the event on the Carnevale di Larino page on our website.
Source: See the sketches on our Instagram.
All about the Carnevale di Larino
Dates, route and history of the event: the page is updated as official confirmations come in.
