Battle of the Oranges

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The Battle of the Oranges is a festival in Ivrea in northern Italy. The townspeople throw oranges at each other. The festival happens every year. It lasts three days.  It is right before Shrove Tuesday, which means it is right before the Catholic Lent season.

Legend says the festival started when the townspeople killed an evil duke.  The duke wanted to have sex with women on their wedding nights, so the people started fighting. A miller's daughter named Violetta cut off the duke's head.  The orange fights are between people pretending to be the duke's men and people pretending to be Violetta's helpers.

There was no festival in 1915-18, 1942-45 nor 2021.
Related pages
Shrove Tuesday
Mardi Gras

References

Category:Festivals in Italy