The Cento Carnevale d’Europa 2027 already has a face. In Piazza Guercino the five carnival associations unveiled the sketches of the floats that will parade along Corso Guercino: five ideas, five stories and five months of papier-mâché, iron and nights in the workshops that start right here.
A historic carnival in the heart of Emilia
The Carnevale di Cento is recognised by the Ministry of Culture as a historic Carnival. The first records date back to 16th-century documents, and in the early 17th century the Cento-born painter Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, known as Guercino, depicted the square crowded with musicians and masks in the frescoes of Casa Pannini. The first procession of floats with large papier-mâché figures paraded in 1870, thanks to the Società Carnevalesca Progresso, and that is where the modern carnival began.
The king of the festival is Tasi, a mask introduced in the early 20th century and inspired by the farmer Luigi Tasini: never without his fox on a lead, at the end of carnival he reads out his Testament, rewarding and mocking the people of Cento, before the mask is burned. Since 1990 the event has been called “Cento Carnevale d’Europa” and is organised by Manservisi Eventi, with Riccardo Manservisi as artistic director since 2014. The whole story is on the official website.
The 2027 floats
E io, chi sono?
Fantasti100. The reigning champions bring the theme of depression to the square, and the masks that hide pain: the clown’s smile and what lies behind it.
Echi di un passato prossimo
Mazalora. History as a melody that repeats itself: wars, greed, human mistakes. Memories of what has been, or echoes of what will return?
Un mondo in bilico
I Ragazzi del Guercino. A fragile balance between chaos and harmony, where even when everything collapses something keeps being born.
La noche triste
I Toponi. From the flight of the conquistadors from Tenochtitlán, an allegory of the value of the things we fail to recognise, and which therefore slip away from us.
L’ultimo dei Mohicani
Il Risveglio. The last cry of a people who never surrendered, against a greed that has wiped out peoples, animals and cultures.
The route and the gettito
The huge self-propelled figures, preceded by ranks of costumed performers and pulled by tractors, parade past the buildings of the historic centre: from Piazzale Bonzagni along Corso Guercino, through the main square and on to the Rocca. The highlight is the passage through Piazza Guercino in front of the jury, which at the end of the five Sundays proclaims the winning float.
Typical of Cento is the gettito: from the float towers, soft toys, balls and gifts of every kind rain down on the crowd, a tradition the people of Cento consider themselves to have invented. And after the last Sunday the winning society organises a light-hearted “funeral” for the defeated societies, with a procession, a tombstone and satirical zirudelle verses.
2027 dates
Five Sundays of parades along Corso Guercino, starting at 2 pm:
- Sunday 31 January 2027
- Sunday 7 February 2027
- Sunday 14 February 2027
- Sunday 21 February 2027
- Sunday 28 February 2027
A full ticket costs 19 euros and can be bought online or at the ticket desks on the day of the parade; children under 1.20 metres get in free. All the information on tickets, free parking, camper areas and shuttles from Bologna and Ferrara is in the official FAQ.
The sketches
Browse the gallery and let yourself be won over.
Building starts today, and in February they fly: we’ll see you in Cento to watch these designs become papier-mâché giants.
How to follow the Carnevale di Cento
The programme, tickets and news are on the official website carnevalecento.com and on the Instagram profile @centocarnevaledeuropa. You’ll also find the dates, route and history on the Carnevale di Cento page on our website.
Source: See the sketches on our Instagram.
All about the Carnevale di Cento
Dates, route and history of the event: the page is updated as official confirmations come in.
