Historical Carnival of Aliano - Masks and Memories

The archaic carnival of the badlands

Aliano, a village in the province of Matera perched among the striking Lucanian badlands, is famous for being the town where Carlo Levi was confined and set his masterpiece Christ Stopped at Eboli. Here survives one of the oldest and most fascinating carnivals in Basilicata, a peasant and pastoral tradition rooted in over two centuries of history. It is the Historical Carnival of Aliano, dominated by the famous horned masks.

The horned masks

The absolute protagonists are the horned masks, made of clay and papier-mâché, with grotesque and unsettling features, hooked noses, horns, and deformed faces. They are not mere disguises: they represent the struggle between good and evil, fertility and rebirth, in an apotropaic rite intended to ward off evil spirits and propitiate the new season. Parading through the village alleys, these ancestral figures create an atmosphere suspended between the sacred and the profane, between myth and peasant memory.

Masks and Memories

The 2026 edition bears the title "Masks and Memories", a journey through time to discover the deep roots of the community and the unique identity of the badlands landscape. The artistic direction is entrusted to Peppone Calabrese, a Rai presenter, with Bianca Luna Santoro as godmother. The event, organized by the Pro Loco, local associations, and the municipal administration, combines parades, workshops, concerts, and moments of rediscovery of Lucanian popular culture.

A carnival between spectacle and tradition

The program alternates the grand historical carnival parade with archaic masks, stilt walkers and fire shows, popular music concerts, workshops for making horned masks, music and bagpipes, comics, as well as the "Carnival Kitchen" with the village ladies. A final three-day event dedicated to the "Apotropaic Carnival" completes the experience.

• Parade of the historical carnival with the horned masks
• Stilt walkers and fire show
• Workshops for making masks, popular music, and bagpipes
• Concerts and comedies in the Auditorium of the Badlands
• The "Apotropaic Carnival"

An unmissable event for those seeking an authentic carnival, far from clichés, immersed in one of the most poetic and wild landscapes of Southern Italy.