Ephemeral Heritage of the European Carnival Rituals

The overall goal of the project EPHEMERAL HERITAGE OF THE EUROPEAN CARNIVAL RITUALS (CARNVAL) is to promote the variety of Europe’s historical and social realities by disseminating some of its most European Carnival rituals and the cultural and creative sectors associated with them. These events are an important part of Europe’s intangible cultural heritage. Our project, therefore, aims to disseminate the events and create links among them – and ultimately to disseminate the idea of a common European cultural area and enhance the feeling of a common European identity. In order to achieve our goals, we are concentrating on those festive events that mirror, or are direct reminders of, historical or contemporary events – most of which show the complex historical, social and cultural links among different European regions. The dissemination of this domain of non-material cultural heritage can serve as a very important factor in fostering dialogue between cultures. On the one hand, it will help to highlight the richness of cultural and historical diversity, in opposition to the increasing trends of globalisation. And on the other, it will contribute to an emerging feeling of European citizenship, as many cultural and historical links are emphasised or made obvious