Carnivale: DairyFest on steroids and sans cheese...

There are no personal boundries at Carnivale. In order to survive you need to have an arsenal of confetti, silly string, or in some cases, shaving cream. No one comes out clean. Everyone comes out with a smile on their faces.

Carnivale in Viareggio takes place every Sunday for four weeks leading up to the beginning of Lent. The celebration contains politically satirical themes and people come from all around to celebrate. There are other locations around Italy where Carnivale is celebrated. In Venice, the celebration tends to be a bit more up scale, in Florence, a bit more low key.

The elaborate displays, costumes, and floats are the main spectacle. I have so many costume ideas for State Street next year, from animals to paintings and so forth. The floats overshadow anything you've ever seen in the States. From enormous birdcages with politicians in them to a fire breathing dragon the inner workings baffled me.

At the end of the day, your heart continues to race and the colors flash through your mind. It really was a blast!