It is one of the most popular carnivals in southern Sardinia. On Cranovali Sinniesu is a mix of colours, sounds, scents and flavours.
The appointment is in Sinnai, Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd March for a rich program.
SATURDAY 2
6.00pm THE CONFERENCE. MuA – Sinnai Civic Museum, via Colletta 20 . In the presence of historians and scholars of the Sinnaese carnival, a conference will be held with the screening of a historical document of Is Cerbus, filmed in 1971 by the writer and documentary maker Angelo Perra.
SUNDAY 3
3.30pm DRESSING. Funtanalada Square . The donning of the ancient mask of the Cranovali Sinniesu takes place here, with the evocative ritual of the slow and almost magical transformation of men and children into deer, dogs, wild boars, trackers and hunters. Once concluded, the noisy parade begins through the streets of the historic center: via Giardini, via Goffredo Mameli, via Funtanalada and via Funtanaziu.
The wait for Is Cerbus and Is Cerbixeddus, together with the guest masks of this edition, is as always in Piazza Sant'Isidoro , to attend the final representation of "su bricks", the slaughter in which deer and wild boars mock the hunters, only to end up inexorably on the ground.
Guests of this edition are the Tumbarinos of Gavoi, Sos Tintinnatos of Siniscola and Sos Traigolzos of Sindia , for a fascinating ethnographic and cultural journey around Sardinia.
Finally, music and dancing with the Su Beranu group.
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 sustenance of archaic societies. On the Monday before Shrove Tuesday, a real big game hunt was simulated: canaxus and canis (men disguised as beaters and dogs) scoured the town with the aim of flushing out cerbus and sirbonis (deer and wild boars) to push them towards the cassadoris ( hunters) stationed in the streets of the centre, where the beasts were finally killed. The clothing includes velvet trousers, cosingius (leather country shoes) and black shirt; is canaxus wear skins, cowbells, greaves and caps; cerbus and sirbonis have deer skins and horns and boar skins; the cassadoris vest and velvet headdress, shirt and fake rifle. The first written mentions 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 created with the aim of preserving and disseminating the Sinnaese carnival tradition. Since then the mask has participated 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.
