Venice's Top 5 Events
A city like no other... Venice is a water world, a paradoxical yet harmonic symbiosis of architecture and water. Instead of cars and roads, this European romantic city has canals, gondolas and vaporetti (water buses).
Undeniable, Venice is unique and its events are extraordinary in their own way. Here are a the top events you don't want to miss to travel to this Italian city.
1) Carnevale: The Carnival of Venice is an annual festival famous for its distinctive masks and elaborate costumes. The ribaldry lasts 10 days and it ends with Lent, forty days before Easter on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday.
2) Venice Biennale: a major contemporary art exhibition of international visual arts staged every odd-numbered year from June to November. This year the Venice Biennale International Art Exhibition celebrates its 55th anniversary from 1June to 24 November. The artistic director is Massimiliano Gioni and the title of the exhibition is The Encyclopedic Palace
3) Festa del Redentore: is held on the third weekend in July. The festival's popularity among Venetians is due to its combination of a religious theme with a spectacular celebration that attracts thousands of visitors. Lights and fire paint the city with splendid bright colours. At dusk, the centennial tradition continues and several small boats decked out with balloons, decorations and brigthly coloured lanters, beging to flock into St. Mark's Bay and the Giudecca Canal. The festivities climax with a spectacular fireworks display that lights up the spires, domes and bell towers of the city. This year, the festival starts on Saturday -July20th- with the opening of the Thanksgiving Bridge, connecting the Zattere to the Church of the Redentore on the island of Giudecca. The fireworks will take place at 11.30pm in St. Mark's Bay. The festival ends on on July 21st with the Redetore Regattas in the Giudecca channel.
4) Regata Storica: costumed parades precede gondola races on the Grand Canal. These are held on the first Sunday in September.
5) Palio delle Quattro Rupubbliche Marinare: Venice, Amalfe, Genoa and Pisa take turns to host this historic regatta. It will take place in Venice in 2015 in late May to June.