It is one of the most popular carnivals in southern Sardinia. Su Cranovali Sinniesu is a mix of colours, sounds, scents and flavours.
The appointment is in Sinnai, on Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 for a rich programme.
SATURDAY 25
h. 15.30 THE PARADE: Departure and arrival from Piazza Sant'Isidoro. Parade of single masks, groups and allegorical floats through the streets of the town. Following the award ceremony, distribution of chats and drinks to the participants. Organized by Pro Loco Sinnai.
h. 19.00 CRANNOVALI MOTTU: Piazza Santa Barbara. Entertaining theatrical representation in Campidanese Sardinian of the characteristic Sinnaese Cranovali Mottu, freely inspired by the comedy by Don Giovanni Cadeddu. Organizes the Sinnai & Surroundings association.
SUNDAY 26
h. 10.00 THE PENTOLACCIA: Piazza Santa Vittoria. Cooking pot for adults and children, with lots of fun and distribution of chats and drinks to the participants. Organized by Pro Loco Sinnai.
h. 15.00 IS CERBUS: dressing of the typical Sinnaese mask with the evocative rite of transformation, slow and almost magical, of men and children into deer, dogs, wild boars, beaters and hunters. Organizes the Is Cerbus association.
h. 16.00 IS CERBUS: Exhibition. Piazza Sant'Isidoro. After the noisy parade in the streets of the historic center, here comes the ancestral big game hunting, where men track down their prey and they make fun of them until the final slaughter, in which the hunters restore the order of things.
The IS CERBISCEDDUS parade will be attended by the guest masks: Bois – Fui Janna Morti from Esclaplano, Martis De Agoa from Maracalagonis, Su Maimoni and Is Ingestusu from Tertenia and Su Maimulu from Gairo.
CRANNOVALI MOTTU: Unpretentious comedy in Sardinian
By now it is not Cranovali Sinniesu without the Cranovali Mottu, the irreverent theatrical representation on the Carnival character. It is a comedy in Campidanese Sardinian in which, through the narration of Cranovali's illness and death, Sinnai and his well-known names, such as administrators, merchants and other faces of society are told in satirical tones.
The story is freely inspired by the screenplay by Don Giovanni Cadeddu, a Sinnaese parish priest and writer who died a few years ago, of which, however, the indelible cultural, artistic and anthropological imprint remains for all Sinnaesi.
Is Cerbus
Like all Sardinian carnival traditions, the Sinnai mask has pre-Christian origins and presents references to man's dominion over nature and to the propitiatory rituals of hunting, the primary source of livelihood in archaic societies.
The Monday before Shrove Tuesday, a real big game was simulated: canaxus and canis (men disguised as beaters and dogs) scoured the town with the aim of ferreting out cerbus and sirbonis (deer and wild boars) to drive them towards the cassadoris ( hunters) stationed in the streets of the centre, where the animals were finally slaughtered.
The attire includes velvet trousers, cosingius (country leather shoes) and a black shirt; is canaxus wear skins, cowbells, greaves and berrita; cerbus and sirbonis have deer skins and antlers and boar skins; the cassadoris velvet vest and hat, shirt and mock rifle.
The first written references date back to the 18th century and since then the tradition has been handed down by spontaneous groups until 2007, the year of the establishment of Is Cerbus, the cultural association born with the aim of preserving and spreading the Sinnaese carnival tradition. Since then the mask has taken part in parades and events throughout the island, in Italy and abroad both during the carnival period and in other periods as an attraction for visitors. Together with the adults, the Cerbixeddus, a large group of children who, with almost surreal pride, also simulate on bricks, the final slaughter of the typical Sinnaese animals.
This year Is Cerbus has the pleasure of hosting some of the most beautiful traditional masks: Bois – Fui Janna Morti from Esclaplano, Martis De Agoa from Maracalagonis, Su Maimoni and Is Ingestusu from Tertenia and Su Maimulu from Gairo.
For further information, the following pages can be consulted:
www.cranovalisinniesu.com
www.instagram.com/cranovalisinniesu
www .facebook.com/cranovalisinniesu