Lantz carnivals are the traditional

carnival Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typi ...

s of Lantz,

Navarre Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...

, Spain. This traditional celebration is made the day before

Ash Wednesday Ash Wednesday is a holy day of prayer and fasting in many Western Christian denominations. It is preceded by Shrove Tuesday and falls on the first day of Lent (the six weeks of penitence before Easter). It is observed by Catholics in the Rom ...

. Monday and Tuesday of carnival, streets are filled by people who dress up as different characters. The aim is to capture the thief, Miel Otxin.

Characters

The main characters are: * Miel Otxin: Miel Otxin is a huge doll; it's believed it was a bad reputation thief of the region. It is also believed to be a representation of the evil spirit. On Sunday, the boys (now the girls too) prepare and they tend to adapt it. The doll is full of straw and a boy who plays the bagpipe and the Basque whistle makes it dance around the streets. * Ziripot:Ziripots body is covered with saddle-bags full of straw and walks hopeless using a long stick. He covered his face, and wears a hat which gives the appearance of a woman (not always). He has been also called “Ziri-potolo”. With Zaldiko and Mielotxin, they walk around the street. When Zaldiko attacks him, he falls, so the other characters have to help him to stand up. According to the fable, Ziripot was a beggar who tells stories, but Zaldiko and Miel Otxin steal what he earns. Annoyed, Ziripot invented terrible matters of Zaldiko and Miel Otxin and he began to tell them to the people from the town. Residents hearing these passages, they capture Miel Otxin and Zaldiko ande decided to burn them. They say that Ziripot repentant, run away from Lantz. * Zaldiko: Zaldiko goes on a

wooden Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin tha ...

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...

. Zaldiko's function is to escape from being tamed and iron-shod. In addition, he puts all his strength on pushing and throwing Ziripot He also pushes and shoo people who is around him. * Arotzak:They are responsible of putting to Zaldiko the horseshoe. * Txatxoak: The Txatxos performed the population from Lantz and they wear animal fur and old clothes.

Gallery

File:ZaldikoLantz.JPG, Zaldiko File:ArotzakLantz.JPG, Arotzak File:TxatxoakLantz.JPG, Txatxo File:MielOtxinLantz.JPG, Miel Otxin File:ZiripotLantz.JPG, Ziripot

References

.Nerea ARREGI URRIOLABEITIA
Euskal Inauteriak
Erabili.com
{{reflist

Characters

Gallery

References

See also