La Gnaga – Alpine Carnival of Fornesighe

The Gnaga of Fornesighe

In Fornesighe, a charming village in the Municipality of Val di Zoldo in the province of Belluno, one of the most archaic and fascinating carnivals in the Dolomites is celebrated: La Gnaga. It is a ritual masquerade rooted in ancient Alpine traditions, far from spectacular carnivals and close to the original meaning of the rite of passage.

The parade and its figures

The heart of the festival is the Sunday parade through the narrow streets and courtyards of Fornesighe, led by the Matazin: in a colorful costume rich with cowbells, he announces the procession's passage, calling the villagers. Behind him parade the parents, witnesses, guests, the wet nurse carrying the "fruit" of sin, and, above all, the Gnaga, an old hunchback accompanying the two young people towards a reparatory marriage. It represents the generational transition and the passage to spring.

The wooden mask competition

Every year, the Fornesighe carnival is accompanied by the traditional ex tempore, a competition of wooden masks carved by wood artists, exhibited in the village during the festival days. Wood, the identity material of Val di Zoldo, thus becomes a protagonist of the Carnival as well.

A preserved tradition

La Gnaga is organized by the Piodech Zoldan Cultural Association and represents one of the most authentic expressions of Zoldan popular culture, capable of attracting visitors and fans of Alpine traditions in the Belluno Dolomites.