Thousands of people took to the streets of Viareggio to watch the incredible spectacle of hundreds of floats parading through the city centre. Viareggio is famous for its carnival season where the procession of gigantic caricatures is quite breathtaking.The floats take a year to construct and are tens of meters high, often weighing as much as 40 tonnes. We are here at the Carnival of Viareggio which is a big event, may be, the the biggest Carnival event in the world where many floats carrying 30 meters high papermache masks parade along the seaside. Fun is at the top because people are completely involved. And we always expect a full participation, the official Viareggio Carnival mask, Burlamacco, a clown which wears clothes taken from other Italian masks, said. Viareggio has become the home of the Italian carnival and it is pretty famous abroad too. People enjoyed themselves by taking part in the colorful parade as well as in masked balls and parties organized during the entire Carnival period. In true carnival tradition the papermache characters often poke fun at politicians. This year the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, the US President Barack Obama and the German Chancellor Angela Merkel were the most depicted figures. There is not one politician, entertainer, or intellectual that has not been a target of one of these floats which almost comes to life during the parade by the moving arms, opening and closing mouths and rolling eyes. This year, for example, the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was depicted while he was cutting off tree's branches representing the justice system, just one day after magistrates walked out of courts across Italy in protest against Prime Minister's judicial reforms.
