Lu Carrasciali Timpiesu (the Tempio carnival) takes place in Tempio Pausania from 8 to 13 February 2024.

Gallura really has a lot to offer.
Not only its renowned beaches, but also a cultural heritage that ranges from the nuraghe to the culture of the stazzi, from the hermitages of the early Christian era to its characteristic religious festivals.  

Today we are talking about an event in which popular tradition celebrates the rite of passage of the seasons by fusing it with an allegory of power.
The Tempio Carnival, more precisely Lu Carrasciali Tempiesu.

The center of internal Gallura, formerly the most important in the area and still the seat of the Archbishopric, is known throughout the island for its “six days” in which the entire citizenry participates passionately and actively in a series of events that has over one hundred thousand visitors annually.

If we have already talked about the carnival in Barbagia and its particularities in a rite in which nothing of the cheerful and burlesque carnival is found, the Tempi one instead falls into the category of those of Italian and European tradition, albeit with its own specific characteristics.

How the Tempiese carnival was born and what it represents

The main mask is that of King George, or “Lu Re di lu Carrasciali Timpiesu”. It metaphorically represents the spirit of the fruitful earth, the divinity to whom in ancient times sacrifices were offered during rites whose main purpose was to promote the year’s harvests.

This carnival, in the first known events from the 17th to the 19th century, represented a week of celebration which concluded the period in which the workers of the land had no recurring activities, i.e. the period from the Epiphany to the Saturday of the week which follows Shrove Thursday.
Thanks to research carried out on site, it has been reconstructed that in the first masquerade courses King George was represented by the puppet of Gjolgju Puntogliu, a puppet stuffed with straw and firecrackers skewered on a pole, which opened the archaic version of the modern parades.

Subsequently this figure changed and conformed to others that can be found in the peninsula but whose destiny remains unchanged. King George, who in the meantime has become an enormous papier-mâché puppet, is condemned without appeal to be burned at the stake in the public square on Shrove Tuesday each year. The fire represents the purifying fire, which frees the community of its problems.

How Lu Carrasciali takes place

The “six days” of the Carrasciali Timpiesu start from Shrove Thursday 8 February 2024.
During the intermediate parade on Sunday, King George meets and marries the commoner Mannena, also represented by a papier-mâché chariot, who will accompany him until the final death sentence by burning, which will be set up on Tuesday 13 February 2024 and of which we have talked about it before.

In addition to the traditional Carrasciali Timpiesu parades, the town hosts various types of events on those days, but above all dancing evenings and masked balls.

Allegorical floats as UNESCO intangible cultural heritage

One of the peculiarities of Lu Carrasciali Timpiesu are its allegorical floats. They are built by the various groups of Carrascialai Masters in the Carnival workshops, made available by the Tempiese municipal administration.

After a selection of the subjects made through their sketches and the explanation of the allegory of the chariot that the group wishes to build, the chariots and the relative group of figures following it carry out the parade in the traditional “six days”. They will subsequently be judged during the parades and awarded for allegory, float and accompanying group.

Together with about ten Italian historical carnivals, Lu Carrasciali Timpiesu is one of the “Historic Carnivals of papier-mâché floats” which awaits, after the official presentation on 13 January 2023, to become a UNESCO intangible cultural heritage.

Where to stay to see Lu Carrasciali Tempiesu?

We now take the liberty of recommending a hotel not far from Tempio (just over 30 minutes) where you can rest from your carnival efforts. Our Hotel Felix Olbia, open all year round, is a four-star superior hotel located in the city center but a few kilometers from the beaches of the north-eastern coast of Sardinia.
The swimming pool on the ground floor, with large solarium, sunbeds and umbrellas, is accessible all year round; open in the summer months, covered and heated in the months between October and May, it offers the possibility of regenerating and relaxing in any season.

We are waiting for you!