Masked merrymaking as Venice's Carnival gets underway

VENICE, Italy - Masked merrymakers are cavorting in Venice, the home of Italy's most popular pre-Lenten Carnival festivities.

Venetian souvenir shops are crammed year-round with colourful, delicate masks, but "Carnevale" is the time to put them on.

Thousands of tourists wearing masks and costumes thronged Venice's car-free streets on Saturday as the city's celebration of Carnival began.

Other Italian cities celebrate, too, with Rome embracing the centuries-old tradition with gusto recently.

In towns large and small, kids in costumes sometimes costing hundreds of euros walk around their neighbourhoods, scattering coloured paper confetti and nibbling on sugar-dusted pastries.

People indulge in sweets because some Catholics swear off sugar in a sign of penance when Lent begins on Ash Wednesday (February 17th this year).

- AP