On the last day of carnival in Tufara, in the province of Campobasso, the Devil’s Carnival is staged.
In Molise the traditions related to the Carnival are very suggestive. In some villages ancestral traditions are renewed: ancient carnival masks, which still arouse amazement and charm.
This is the case of the Devil’s Carnival in Tufara, an event with ancient origins that is worth attending.
In Tufara, a small village in the province of Campobasso, there is the devil’s parade: a frightening mask, with a dangling red tongue, equipped with a trident and dressed in seven goat skins sewn together.
A procession of ‘goblins’ drag the devil, in chains, through the streets of the village. The devil is unbridled: he jumps, wiggles, chases and teases passersby.
The procession is preceded by two men dressed in white, with a whitewashed face, representing the ‘death’.
The pantomime ends with the staging of the Carnival puppet trial, which ends with his death sentence.
Brunella Muttillo
Photo from www.ildiavolotufara.it