Why the Carnival of Mamoiada 2026 is unique in the world

The Carnival of Mamoiada 2026 in Sardinia is a unique cultural event that tells the story of the traditions and identity of an entire community. In the streets of the village, ancient rituals blend with conviviality, featuring food stands, traditional sweets, and cannonau wine. At the heart of the celebration are the Mamuthones and Issohadores, iconic masks symbolising a deeply felt, age-old propitiatory rite.

The festival officially begins on 17 January, with the feast of Saint Anthony Abbot, and reaches its peak with the parades on Carnival Sunday and Shrove Tuesday. As the masks pass by, the village seems to stand still, filled only with the sound of cowbells, while shared food and wine renew the spirit of hospitality and togetherness that has always defined this celebration.

One of the most celebrated events in Sardinian folklore is the Carnival of Mamoiada 2026, renowned for its iconic masks: the Mamuthones and the Issohadores. The Mamuthones wear black masks with archaic features, dark furs, and heavy cowbells, moving slowly in a solemn and ritual rhythm.

The Issohadores, distinguished by their white masks, red bodices, and traditional headgear known as sa berritta, escort the Mamuthones during the procession. By symbolically capturing members of the audience with their ropes, they perform an ancient gesture wishing health and fertility, rooted in rituals of prosperity.

The masks make their first appearance on 17 January, during the feast of Saint Anthony Abbot, and return on Carnival Sunday and Shrove Tuesday. The celebrations conclude on Shrove Tuesday with the effigy of Juvanne Martis Sero and the traditional favata, blending sacred and profane elements in a ritual that celebrates community and shared festivity.

In this article, you will discover:

• the origins and meaning of the Carnival of Mamoiada

• who the Mamuthones and the Issohadores are

• dates and programme of the Carnival of Mamoiada 2026

• the traditional masks and their symbolic rituals

• how to get to Mamoiada and experience the event at its best

Carnival 2026 in Sardinia, which in Sardinian is called 'Carrasegare', begins with the feast dedicated to Saint Anthony Abbot, on 17 January 2026. For the occasion, a large fire is lit and in the evening the forehead is sprinkled with his ashes, although the real start is with Candlemas, on 2 February. Usually Carnival in Sardinia is celebrated with typical dances and traditional masks, during the days of Thursday and Shrove Tuesday, and then ends with the pentolaccia. Although on this wonderful island, every weekend is a good time to celebrate.

Carnival in Sardinia has a thousand fascinating faces and we invite you to discover them all. Here are some of them:

- We have the ancient one of the suggestive Barbagia carnivals that evoke mysterious rites, propitiatory dances and a close relationship between man and animal. Made up of characters with their primitive anthropomorphic and zoomorphic masks, dressed in goat skins, orbaceous and cowbells.

- The vibrant one of the carnivals on horseback, such as the one in Oristano, known as 'Sa Sartiglia', during which the horsemen, as a wish for a good harvest, have to thread a metal star while running.

- That of Santulussurgiu, also known as 'Sa Carrela 'e nanti', in which horsemen show their valour, courage and skill, challenging each other in daring races through the town centre.

- Or the irreverent and allegorical one of Tempio Pausania that ends with the trial and burning in the square of the puppet of His Majesty King George.

- Not to be forgotten is the symbolism of the masquerades in Bosa, here the most important day is Shrove Tuesday. When questors with a jacket worn inside out, their faces painted black with soot and with a red cross on their foreheads go from house to house from dawn to dusk. For each visit they perform traditional Sardinian satirical songs and as a reward they receive sausages, cheese, fruit and sweets that they thread onto a spit and then store in a saddlebag.

Carnival in Sardinia is all this, history, traditions, but also much more. To recount it in a few lines would be too reductive as well as a gamble lost at the start, given the multitude of rituals and customs that have always populated this island of ancient customs. Certainly, Carnival in Sardinia represents another way of telling the story of this land. This is a useful opportunity to make its customs known to the world. All this reinforces the testimony of how multifaceted the tradition is, just as multifaceted is its culture.

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The Carnival of Mamoiada in Sardinia is one of the most famous events in Sardinian folklore. The traditional and best-known masks are definitely the Mamuthones and the Issohadores.

Let's discover together how these typical masks are made:

- The Mamuthones, are dressed in sheep skins and wear a black wooden mask with a suffering or impassive expression. On their backs they carry 'sa carriga', several cowbells tied with leather straps, while around their necks they have smaller bells.

- The Issohadores wear a linen shirt, a red jacket and white trousers, carry a women's shawl over their shoulder and have brass and bronze rattles. Some of them also have a white anthropomorphic mask.

The dressing of the Mamuthones is a very heartfelt ritual of this typical festival and is performed by two people. After this, the Mamuthones parade in groups of twelve, representing the months of the year, and are led by the Isshoadores, who instead parade in groups of eight, and dance, performing steps of considerable difficulty that have been taught to them since childhood.

The parade of the Mamuthones and Isshoadores is a solemn ceremony, organised as if it were a procession.

The Mamuthones, arranged in two parallel rows and flanked by the Issohadores, move very slowly curving under the weight of the cowbells. All that is heard is the rhythmic beat of the cowbells, which shakes them and makes them all ring.

The Issohadores, on the other hand, move, because they are lighter, with quicker, more agile steps. Suddenly they throw their rope, 'sa soha', to catch someone in the audience present. To free themselves, the prisoners have to offer them wine to drink.

The masks make their appearance on the feast of Saint Anthony between 16 and 17 January, then on Sunday and Shrove Tuesday. On the last day, one can watch the procession of the Juvanne Martis Sero mask, which is transported on a cart by men who mourn its death by singing sad songs.

Scheduled events and dates of the Carnival of Mamoiada in Sardinia 2026, the only festival not linked to the Catholic liturgy, with obvious social functions, that uses the canons of theatrical fiction. There is no lack of masks, disguises, satire, grotesque mockery, all well mixed together to overturn forms, roles and hierarchies of everyday normality.

It traditionally begins with the feast of the fires of Saint Anthony Abbot, on 17 January 2026. The dates of the Carnival of Mamoiada in Sardinia are mainly concentrated between Shrove Thursday (12 February) and Shrove Tuesday (18 February).

The Mamuthones and Issohadores Parade will take place between 15 – 18 February 2026.

Getting to the Carnival of Mamoiada in Sardinia is very easy as it is centrally located with respect to the island's main ports and airports. From the cities of Cagliari, Sassari, Alghero and Olbia, you can go by car or public transport. All you have to do is head for the central region also known as Barbagia, which is only a few minutes' drive from Nuoro, the provincial capital.

Follow the map that will take you straight to the festivities.

Carnival in Sardinia has many faces, it is shrouded in mystery, it is full of fear and echoes with the sound of cowbells. Sardinian masks invade the streets, each one has a special meaning and story to tell.

The atmosphere of Carnival in Sardinia is different from the cheerful and festive atmosphere elsewhere, because here ancient agro-pastoral and rural rituals are revived, where man and animals are the undisputed protagonists.

No fat laughter is heard and no confetti is thrown. Here, one waits with bated breath for the arrival of the Boes and Merdules in Ottana, the Thurpos in Orotelli, the Mamuthones in Mamoiada. After all, we are on an island rich in history and tradition.

Each carnival town in Sardinia has its own masks and traditions, let us discover them together:

- King George, Ghjolghju Puntogliu, and sa Mannena in Tempio Pausania.

- The faceless knights of Sa Carrela e'Nanti in Santulussurgiu.

- Sos Boes e Sos Merdules of Ottana.

- Su Componidori of Oristano.

- Gioldzi and the Attittadoras of Bosa.

- The Thurpos of Orotelli.

- La Ratantira and Cancioffali from Cagliari.

- Su Bundhu of Orani.

- Mamuthones and Issohadores of Mamoiada.