With the title “Carnival Patras” and subtitled “Photographic and Historical Album of the Fatherland’s Carnival”, the well-known journalist Panagiotis Rigopoulos released a two-volume luxury album, consisting of 850 pages in total (24 letter editions). P. Rigopoulos is a regular member of ESIEPIN and the International Federation of Journalists, with additional studies in decoration and music. He is also a connoisseur of the events of the Patronus Carnival in recent years, having served as the presenter of the parades for ET1 together with the renowned journalist Natasha Tragoustis. Therefore, the writing and editing of this album on his part, acquires special importance.
And the album this is of course not only interesting for those who actively participate in the carnival events and have every reason to browse and enjoy its pages, looking for faces, figures, disguises, floats and other similar constructions in the photographic material, but also for all the “leftovers” whether they are among the indifferent, or the studious and curious, or the foreign visitors, or even those who feel uncomfortable or are opponents of the Carnival for many and various reasons.
Certainly the album will also be of interest to the modern historian, who cannot close his eyes to what happened and is happening around him and concerns tens of thousands of people of all ages, regardless of the way he ranks and judges the events and life in the city.
And here precisely lies the value of the album edited by Pan. Rigopoulos as an “expert”, as a connoisseur of things. Because it provides us with a series of data that will complete the overall picture of the city, data that reveal not only the artistic, folklore, entertainment, social and other characteristics of the people of the city, but also the evolution of these events over time.
Sure the author is not concerned with the ancient history and origin of the custom, which has its roots in celebrations during Greek and Roman antiquity, but with its appearance and evolution in Patras, from the first years of its liberation in 1828 and the establishment of younger Greek state until the present day. But it gives the historian, the ethnologist, the sociologist or the folklorist the opportunity to make comparisons and find similarities and differences with current events, either in the remote pre-Christian past, or in the later medieval and recent years when Patra was under Venetian or Turkish rule and to distinguish the evolution of the phenomenon over time.
Because they as scientists, they will judge whether the data cited in the album is a continuation of the ancient Greco-Roman tradition or is “unrealized” or whether it is a continuation of the traditions during the Turkish rule and whether they conflict with the folklore customs of other Greek cities. P. Rigopoulos gives us the data of the phenomenon after 1828.
The writer with enthusiasm for the Patrinos Carnival, but also love for Patras, he presents all the elements of the history of the Patrinos Carnival that he drew from the oldest scarce literature and from the archives of the Press Museum of ESIEPIN, the Physiolatikos Syndemos, the choirs of the city, many families, photographers, chariot makers and other persons or newer amateur forms, in order to present us, in the first part, a historical retrospective from 1829 to the 1970s, when the events began to take shape and evolve with their current form and dynamics.
In the second part, the author is influenced by his own experiences, informational and experiential, he stands mainly in the last decades, in which there is much more visual material, giving immediacy to what is described.
So, well-known persons who in every way played an important role in the formation of today’s Patris Carnival have a prominent place in the album.
It’s happening special mention for floats, masquerades, dances, game of Hidden Treasure, chocolate war, political satire, makers and more.
The biggest of course, part of the album contains the photographic material and other interesting documents, such as letters, photocopies of newspapers, telegrams, minutes, announcements of dances, programs, etc.
The photos certainly with the enlightening captions, most of them respond to the will of the author to present that this “Carnival Patras” shows the special characteristics of its people, who are distinguished for their mocking mood and like to create silly events during the carnival.
He is interested the author to be seen in his rich photographic material, a “cultural scenery” that is inspired by originality in expression and creativity, in the excitement and fun of entertainment and in the enviable massiveness of both participants and spectators.
He even finds that Patras holds the scepter and primacy of carnival events throughout Greece and a prominent position among the carnivals of Europe and the whole world.
Worth Finally, let us note that P. Rigopoulos in his album, in addition to the friendly temperament of the Patrinas, which he considers as the generative cause of the events, distinguishes two more factors that contributed to the development of the modern form of the Carnival: The influence of the West and the nearby islands of Iptanissos and the economic boom experienced by Patras after the liberation.
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