Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK
For members

CULTURE

Venice Carnival: What to expect if you’re attending in 2023

After three years of toned-down celebrations, Venice's famous Carnival is finally set to return to its former grandeur. Here’s what you need to know about this year’s edition.

Published: 2 February 2023 13:16 CET
A masked reveller wearing a traditional carnival costume in Venice.
The upcoming edition of the Venice Carnival will be the first one without pandemic-related restrictions since 2019. Photo by Andrea PATTARO / AFP

The historic Venice Carnival – a tradition which dates back to the late 14th century – will be back in all of its splendour this year as the upcoming edition of the festival will be the first one without pandemic-related restrictions since 2019. 

As the undisputed queen of Italian Carnival, Venice will once again put on a full programme of water parades, masked balls, fine dining experiences and street art performances spread over 18 days of sheer carnevale fun.

If you’re planning on taking part in the city’s Carnival celebrations, here’s a quick guide to this year’s main events.

What are the dates?

The Venice Carnival will officially start on Saturday, February 4th with a night parade streaming down the city’s iconic Grand Canal accompanied by music, dance performances and light shows.

READ ALSO: Nine ways to get into trouble while visiting Venice

The parade will kick off two weeks of events, unfolding both in the centro storico (city centre) and on the smaller islands of the lagoon.

As always though, celebrations will peak in the six days between giovedì grasso (‘Fat Thursday’, falling on February 16th) and martedì grasso (shrove Tuesday, falling on February 21st). 

A masked reveller wearing a traditional carnival costume In St Mark's Square, Venice

The 2023 Venice Carnival will start with a floating parade down the Grand Canal on February 4th. Photo by Andrea PATTARO / AFP

The most popular and widely anticipated events of the Venice Carnival are scheduled to take place during those days. However, that will also be the time when the city’s calli and squares will be most crowded. 

What are the main events?

Celebrations will start with the above-mentioned floating parade on Saturday, February 4th, and continue on the following day with another water parade involving traditional Venetian vessels and captained by the beloved Pantegana (a boat shaped like a giant sewer rat).

Apart from that, the Festa delle Marie – a historic beauty pageant during which 12 young local women are dressed up in Renaissance costumes, paraded throughout the city, and then subjected to a vote as to which of them makes the best Maria – will start on Saturday, February 11th. 

The winner of the contest will be announced in Saint Mark’s Square on shrove Tuesday, the final day of the festival. 

READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: Why Venice has delayed its ‘tourist tax’ – again

Original Signs, a music and dancing show performed on six floating stages set within the iconic Venetian Arsenal (the former seat of the Venetian navy), will begin on Friday, February 10th, with performances running on a nearly daily basis until the end of the festival.

Original Signs will run alongside Original Sinners, a fine dining experience followed by a masked ball at the magnificent Ca’ Vendramin Calergi, a 15th century palace facing the Grand Canal which is also the current seat of Venice’s Casino. 

As with Original Signs, the event will be available to the public on multiple dates.

Masked revellers wearing a traditional carnival costume pose in St Mark Square, Venice

The historic ‘Flight of the Angel’ will not take place this year due to ongoing work in St Mark’s Square. Photo by Tiziana FABI / AFP

Aside from major events, street art performances, workshops, exhibitions and seminars will take place at various venues across the city for the entire duration of the festival. Some of these require booking in advance, which you can do on the Venice Carnival official website. 

On a rather sombre note, the Volo dell’Angelo (‘Flight of the Angel’), the traditional ceremony in which a costumed woman ‘flies’ down a cable from the bell tower in Saint Mark’s Square to the centre of the piazza, will not be performed this year due to ongoing repair work. 

How busy will it be?

The 2023 edition of the Venice Carnival is expected to mark a “final return to normality”, according to local media.  

And, with just a couple of days to go until the official start of the festival, it looks like the floating city is about to experience pre-pandemic numbers of visitors – current estimates indicate that around half a million people will visit the city over Carnival.

According to Claudio Scarpa, president of Venice’s Hoteliers Association, local hotels “will soon be all but fully booked for weekends”, though large numbers of bookings are also being registered on weekdays, especially those in “the last stages of the festival”.

Given the expected turnout, local transport operator ACTV will enhance their services for the entire duration of the Carnival to avoid overcrowding on buses and water buses. 

For more details about the Venice Carnival and bookings, see the festival’s official website. 

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

VENICE

‘It’s not Disneyland’: What Venice residents really think of new ‘tourist tax’

As Venice prepares to trial a charge for day trippers aimed at tackling overcrowding, residents of the floating city are questioning how helpful the measure will be.

Published: 16 April 2024 13:10 CEST
‘It’s not Disneyland’: What Venice residents really think of new ‘tourist tax’

If you type Venice into any news site, you will more than likely find pages upon pages of reports about the day tripper fee or ‘tourist tax’ being introduced from April 25th. 

News of the upcoming test run of a five-euro sum for day tourists who enter Venice between 8.30am and 4pm has reached practically every corner of the globe.

Even James Liotta, an Australia-based comedian, asked his followers on Facebook recently what they thought about Venice’s new charge and whether they’d pay it, and got a big reaction.

One commenter wrote: “No I would not, it is totally exploitation. They can charge for use of amenities, heritage but not for entrance.”

But with most articles and discussions aimed at visitors, they don’t necessarily reflect the thoughts of Venice’s residents.

For Eleanora Smith, the toll couldn’t come soon enough. She’s one of the 49,000 people who live in the historic centre of Venice – a number far smaller than the city’s tourist intake.

At peak times, some 100,000 tourists spend the night in the city, with tens of thousands more visiting just for the day.

Eleanora, who has lived on and off in Venice for the past 13 years, says getting day trippers to pay isn’t necessarily a bad thing; it can also be a boost for Venice’s economy.

READ ALSO: Venice promises ‘very soft’ measures to cut down tourist crowds

“I’m all for this test run,” she tells The Local. “Nothing is set in stone yet, and it’s only for 29 days of the year, so I’m failing to understand what the uproar is about.”

“I’m tired of people coming in, sitting in the streets and eating a cheap slice of pizza. They clog up our walkways, whilst bringing nothing to the city at all.”

She tells the story of a time when she missed three water buses to get to work because there were lines of tourists.

“My only criticism is I don’t think this is enough,” she continues. “It’s going to be a cat-and-mouse game of police officers doing random checks as opposed to checks being done when the tourists enter.”

READ MORE: Explained: How to use Venice’s new ‘tourist tax’ website.

Jill Goodman, a Venice resident originally from New York City, says: “This is long overdue. Venice is a world heritage site and the fee should be higher. 

“Day trippers add nothing to the economy and they leave their garbage everywhere and swim in the canals.”

Several residents said the fee should be higher and should be in place all year round.

Venetian Gioia Tiozzo, on the other hand, says no fee would be discouraging enough.

“I’m 100-percent Venetian from a Venetian family. I have spent all my life in Venice and I live the problem of over-tourism every single day,” she writes.

She stresses that, whilst she is not a supporter of Venice’s mayor, Luigi Brugnaro, she does think he is trying to find a solution.

“The upcoming fee is just the first step, not the solution to all of Venice’s problems,” she continues. “Will the fee work? No. The fee is too low and irrelevant. Too many tourists will avoid it as they could be residents in the Veneto region.

“But it could be an important first step for the future. For me, the fee is a weapon against the illegal B&Bs in Venice. Tourists will not stay in illegal B&Bs if the hosts cannot provide them a pass like legal hotels. This is a crucial point.”

OPINION: Why more of Italy’s top destinations must limit tourist numbers

Laura Pritchard, a UK national and the Vice President of the American International Women’s Association has mixed feelings about the charge. She’s been living in Venice for five years now and was anxious when the news was first announced, but felt calmer when she knew she could apply for an exemption. 

But she says even that has its issues.

“As always seems to be the case with Italian websites, the procedure to obtain an exemption code for visitors in the city based on being a resident proved to be extremely torturous,” she writes. 

“This is very off-putting. I would be interested to know how difficult it is for someone to just pay the fee.” 

She believes the requirement to have a smartphone on you to show your exemption code is unfair, especially if your phone dies.

READ MORE: What are the new rules for tourist groups visiting Venice?

As it stands, Veneto region residents like Laura, together with those born or working, and studying in Venice among those who are exempt from paying the tourist charge. 

Other categories include visitors staying overnight, children under 14, those with disabilities, those taking part in sports competitions, those who need medical care, relatives of residents, and police officers on duty. 

Venice Carnival Art

Carnival masks in the salon of a mask workshop. (Photo by Adnan Beci / AFP)

“I cannot imagine living in a city where people have to pay to visit, although I am sympathetic to the idea of how to solve the challenge of excessive numbers of visitors at certain times and in certain places,” Laura adds. 

“My biggest concern is where the money raised will go.”

At the time of writing, nothing has been announced by the local government about how the money raised from the new charge will be used.

READ ALSO: The Italian tourist destinations bringing in restrictions this summer

Julia Curtis, a resident from California, says the local community should have more of a say.

“They should charge more and we residents should have a democratic say in how these taxes are actually spent. It should not just be for a few days a year but almost all the time,” she writes. 

“We need less day trippers and more tourists who are seriously interested in the city and its many gems and not sure about checking off their list of top attractions in Europe—it’s not Disneyland.”

Antoine Scicluna however comments: “Cities are there for the world to see and not to be used for profit, just because Italy manages its taxes badly.”

For Gillian Longworth McGuire, the fee doesn’t address bigger issues affecting residents such as sky-high rents and the rules surrounding it are not clear enough.

“Firstly, Venice needs tourism and day trippers do not need to be a net negative,” she says. “Venice needs people, but not those who sit on the sidewalk eating lunch. I doubt they’d do that in their hometowns.

“What happens to all this money? Will it be spent on improving Venice’s public transportation? Will it remain on the mainland? There has been no mention of what will happen.

“I’m afraid this fee has got me asking more and more questions.”

SHOW COMMENTS