Valdieri Alpine Carnival (The Rye Bear)

The 2025 Carnival kicked off on Friday, February 21st, with a creative workshop at the library to make masks inspired by the Bear, and the evening "Bestiaries and Recipe Books", a meeting between tales and alpine gastronomy with illustrator Gabriele Pino and food blogger Beatrice Di Tullio.

On Saturday, February 22nd, a guided tour of the Valdieri Archaeological Area took place, featuring the remains of an Iron Age necropolis, followed in the afternoon by the traditional Frà begging ritual, with masked groups searching for food in exchange for songs and ironic tales about community life.

On Sunday, February 23rd, the squares of Valdieri came alive with a local produce market, traditional games, and an educational farm. In the afternoon, the Rye Bear ran wild among the crowd before being captured and entrusted to Lent, who tamed him with a ritual dance, concluding with the burning of the straw effigy, a symbol of winter.