Fruit flies at Italian Carnaval
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CNN's Denise Dillon shows the orangy fun. |
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March 7, 2000
Web posted at: 6:49 p.m. EST (2349 GMT)
(CNN) -- Wear a helmet if you visit Ivrea in northern Italy at Carnaval time. When folks there celebrate, they roll out wine, bands -- and oranges, suitable for throwing.
Hurling oranges is a tradition in Ivrea that dates to the Middle Ages, when villagers took aim at an unpopular feudal lord and chased him off with a citrus barrage. It remains a treasured, if treacherous, part of the town's past.
"The origin of the Ivrea Carnaval is to re-enact the fight of the people against tyranny," one participant says. "But now we just hurt ourselves, drink and have a good time."
At least 50,000 people took part in this year's pelting. And as CNN's Denise Dillon reports, they got a bit heavy-handed.
Reuters and CNN Correspondent Denise Dillon contributed to this report.
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