Friday 14 February 2014

Carnavale di Venezia, Sabato 15 Febbraio

While the Carnaval in Quebec and in Ottawa end this weekend the celebrated Carnaval of Venice starts with a wonderful water parade on the Grand Canal.

The theme this year is ''La natura fantastica'' in celebration of a fairy like carnival, of the wondrous, the dreamy, the fantastic. Every day special events will be held throughout the city and of course beautiful costumes and masks will be on display everywhere.

From the 22 February to March 4, there will be a competition on the most beautiful mask, they have to follow the theme of this year Carnavale and be made by hand and hand painted also, really works of art.

Some of the highlights are:

16 February, Corteo Acqueo, Canal Grande, Cannaregio (a great decorated gondola parade on the Gran Canal) quite beautiful.

2 March at the Palazzo Pisani Moretta will be held the Gala dinner and Mask Ball of the Carnavale. This is a prestigious event and tickets for this night is difficult to obtain. The dress code is an elaborate costume and mask, you cannot enter otherwise. It starts at 23:30 and tickets per person are 640 Euros. The elaborate dinner and lavish entertainment are held in the great baroque salon of the Palace.




There lots of other events which are free and can be enjoyed throughout the City.

22 Feb Festa dell Marie (which is a parade of beauties in period costume on San Marc Square)

23 Feb. Il volo dell'Angelo ( the flight of the angel from the top of the bell Tower of St-Marc into the Square below)

4 March, Svolo del Leon, award given to the most beautiful Maria of the Carnavale.

There are also fireworks and good food and so many fun things to do, if you are in period costume and walk around the city it really is like a dream. Well worth doing once in a lifetime.



The Carnavale ends on Mardi Gras with a silent candle light parade of gondolas to mark the end of the festivities and the beginning of Lent.




2 comments:

  1. we met to fellows from Montreal today on our own 'fairy venice carnival' of a day cruise with 40 men. They say my French is appalling.

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  2. Oh, how very rude of them, I hope you slapped them. I do not think they were from Montreal maybe from the suburbs somewhere.

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