Zanni del Cicolano Carnival

A Carnival from a bygone era

In the heart of the Cicolano, the rugged mountain area that closes off the province of Rieti to the southeast, the Carnival has never been just a masquerade. It is a ritual. The Zanni del Cicolano Carnival is celebrated in Leofreni, a small hamlet in the municipality of Pescorocchiano, in the Lazio region, and features one of the most archaic masks of the Central Apennines: the Zanne, a figure that blends demonic and comic traits, with gestures reminiscent of medieval jesters.

The oldest accounts describe an outfit that has remained almost unchanged: a white shirt, white trousers, a leather belt, and sandals. On their heads, they wear a towering cone that reaches down to their shoulders, adorned with white curls and long multicolored ribbons; chains and crude bells hang from their belts, the sound of which, according to rural tradition, served to drive away the spirits of winter.

The ritual of the questua

The ancient heart of the festival is the questua. During the days of Carnival, the masked troupe would travel from village to village and house to house, asking for gifts in exchange for verses: grain, eggs, salami, meat, and sweets. In return, the Zanni would sing stanzas in ottava rima, offering well-wishes to the family, satirical jokes, and improvisations composed on the spot, following an oral poetic art still alive throughout the Apennines between Lazio, Abruzzo, and Marche.

The group is led by the Zannone, the spokesperson and lead dancer, who opens the ritual by jumping and dancing. Moving before him is the Turco, his antagonist: when two troupes met on the road, their respective Zannoni would challenge each other with wooden sabers, satirical verses, and jester-like movements in a symbolic duel for territorial conquest. An ancient popular interpretation has historicized this clash as a struggle between Christians and Turks, but the original core remains deeper: the opposition of the forces of good against those of evil within the agrarian rites of spring.

The Contrast between the Poor and the Rich

Alongside the mask parade, the day revolves around the popular theatrical performance "the Contrast between the Poor and the Rich," curated by the Viviamo Leofreni association. It is a contrast in verse, a typical form of rural theater: two opposing social figures face off in a back-and-forth exchange, filled with irony, role reversals, and social criticism. The audience watches outdoors in the square, participating with applause and comments, just as it has always been done.

Thirty years of the Compagnia degli Zanni

The Compagnia degli Zanni of Pescorocchiano was founded in 1995 with the goal of saving from oblivion a tradition that was disappearing along with the depopulation of the hamlets. In 2025, the Company celebrated its thirtieth anniversary, taking the Cicolano Carnival far beyond the borders of the Rieti province: to the BIT in Milan, the International Tourism Exchange, and the Carnival of Traditions within the context of the Venice Carnival. A recognition that has given national visibility to an intangible heritage otherwise confined to a few hundred inhabitants.

A territory to discover

The Cicolano is a land of perched villages, castles, and ancient sheep tracks, nestled between the Salto Valley and the massifs looking toward Abruzzo. Pescorocchiano, with its numerous scattered hamlets, is one of the most extensive municipalities in the province of Rieti. Attending the Zanni Carnival therefore also means traversing an Apennine landscape little touched by mass tourism, where the cuisine is that of the Lazio mountains: legume soups, pecorino cheese, cured meats, and fried Carnival sweets like castagnole and frappe.

Why it is worth going

• Authenticity: not a re-enactment built for the public, but an unbroken community ritual.
• Unique masks: the ribboned cones of the Zanni resemble no other Italian mask.
• Oral poetry: improvised octaves and contrasts in verse, a rare heritage.
• Free admission: the festival takes place outdoors and is open to everyone.