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Popular festival · Venice
The Venice Carnival takes over the city in the weeks before Ash Wednesday, with masks and period costumes in the streets, processions on the water, the Festa delle Marie and costume parades in St. Mark’s Square.
In the photo: Venice
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
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Venice Carnival — Venice
About two and a half weeks before Lent, between late January and early March, depending on the date of Easter; the last day is Fat Tuesday.
January/February/March
Dates change every year: check this year's date before you travel.
The festival
During Carnival, Venice becomes a city of masks again. In the weeks leading up to Ash Wednesday, locals and visitors walk the bridges, campi and alleys with their faces covered and wearing costumes inspired by the 18th century, and St. Mark’s Square (Piazza San Marco) becomes a stage for processions, costume parades and ceremonies that recall the old Republic of Venice. Each edition has a theme chosen by the artistic direction, which guides the official program.
The earliest documents about the Venetian carnival date from the late 11th century. In the following centuries the celebration grew in duration and fame: during the Serenissima, palaces opened their halls for balls, theatres were full, and the mask allowed nobles and common people to mingle without being recognized. After the fall of the Republic at the end of the 18th century, the festival lost momentum and remained for almost two centuries without its former form, until the city revived it in 1979.
Traditional masks have their own names and histories. The bauta, white and of simple lines, covered the whole face and was worn with the tabarro, a large black cloak, and a tricorne hat, leaving the wearer unrecognizable. The moretta, oval and made of black velvet, was worn by women and fastened by a small button bitten between the teeth, which forced silence. In the gnaga, men dressed as women and wore a cat mask, a playful inversion of roles for a few days. Today the papier-mâché and leather masks from the city’s ateliers coexist with costumes created by visitors themselves, and entire groups travel to Venice just to parade in handmade outfits.
The program mixes tradition and spectacle. Processions and regattas of decorated rowing boats bring the celebration to the canals, with routes announced for each edition. The Festa delle Marie recalls an episode from 973: according to tradition, twelve young Venetian women were kidnapped by pirates on the day they were to receive a nuptial blessing at San Pietro di Castello and were rescued by the doge. Twelve local girls, in period dress, are presented to the public in a procession, and on the final day one of them is proclaimed the Maria of the year. The Flight of the Angel is part of the festival’s history: a person suspended from a cable descended from St. Mark’s Campanile down to the square. The gesture goes back to 16th‑century acrobatic displays; at one point a wooden dove, the Colombina, replaced the person, until the human flight was resumed in the early 21st century.
On the fat days, the celebration spreads across the city. On Shrove Thursday, the square reenacts the “cutting off the bull’s head,” a rite that recalls a victory of the doge over the patriarch of Aquileia in 1162: as tribute, the patriarch began sending a bull and twelve pigs every year, and the Italian expression tagliare la testa al toro, meaning to settle a matter once and for all, comes from this custom. There are mask contests on the square’s stage, masked balls in palaces, commedia dell’arte performances on wooden stages in the Piazzetta and music in the campi; in Mestre, on the mainland, there are parades and street performers. Fat Tuesday closes the carnival, with the presentation of the Maria of the year and programming announced for the square.
Parades and rowing regattas with costumed participants on routes published in the program. The presentation of the twelve Maries, in period dress, arriving at Piazza San Marco in procession. The mask contest on the square’s stage, where handmade costumes are shown before the public and the judges. The cutting of the bull’s head and the commedia dell’arte performances on Fat Thursday. Fat Tuesday, with the presentation of the Maria of the year and the final parades announced for the square. Outside the square: the alleys of Castello and Cannaregio at dusk, when masked groups pose on bridges and in the less crowded campi; the Riva degli Schiavoni at dawn, with the lagoon in the background; and a visit to a mask workshop to see how masks are shaped, painted and gilded by hand.
The two weekends of Carnival and the fat days, from Thursday to Tuesday, concentrate the main events and the highest crowds; the weekdays in between are calmer and good for photographing masks at leisure. To attend parades and ceremonies in St. Mark’s Square, arrive early in the morning: on the busiest days access to the square may be controlled, with one‑way routes and temporary closures when it becomes full. The city is best explored on foot and by vaporetto; the lines that serve San Marco and San Zaccaria get crowded, and sometimes walking is faster. An offline map helps in the alleys, where it’s easy to get lost. Dressing up is part of the festival: there are shops and ateliers that sell handmade masks and rent period costumes, but a simple mask is enough to join the atmosphere. Masked participants usually accept photos; ask with a gesture and respect those who prefer to move on. Bring warm, waterproof clothing, gloves and flat shoes with good grip for the bridges and wet stones. To escape the crowds, reserve a morning for the islands of Murano and Burano by vaporetto.
Le frìtole, or frittelle, are the sweet of the Venetian carnival: round fried doughnuts, in the traditional recipe with raisins and pine nuts, and today also filled with cream, zabaglione or chocolate, sold in pastry shops only at this time of year. Galani, thin strips of fried dough, crisp and dusted with powdered sugar, appear in every shop window, as do castagnole, small fried balls rolled in sugar. In the bàcari, the traditional bars, order cicchetti, snacks served at the counter, such as baccalà mantecato on polenta or bread, sarde in saor (sardines with sweet‑and‑sour onion), and fried meatballs, accompanied by an ombra, the Venetians’ small glass of wine, or by a spritz. On a cold day, a thick hot chocolate in a café on the square completes the outing.
Venice has limited accommodation in the historic center, and Carnival fills the city: book your room as soon as you set the dates. There are options in Mestre on the mainland, connected to the center by train and bus in a few minutes. Masked balls in palaces and some shows require tickets and period dress, and they often sell out early. In February the days are cold and damp, often foggy, and high tide (acqua alta) can flood parts of the city, including St. Mark’s Square. Check the year’s program and whether there is an access contribution for the dates of your trip.
In the city
Flavors of Italy
Air-dried cod, soaked, cooked and whipped with olive oil until it becomes a light white cream. It is served over polenta or bread in Venice’s bacari and links the city to the story of the navigator who brought this fish from Norway.
Fried sardines topped with onions cooked in vinegar, with raisins and pine nuts, left to rest until they take on a sweet-and-sour flavor. They originated as a way to preserve fish on boats and are the dish of the Festa del Redentore in Venice.
Your questions
The date changes every year with Easter. The festival lasts about two and a half weeks, usually falls in February and ends on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday.
It is a historic ceremony in which a person in period costume descended, suspended from a cable, from the Campanile of San Marco down to the square. The tradition was associated with the winner of the previous year’s Maries. Check the program for the edition you plan to attend, as events change.
It is a tradition that recalls the rescue of twelve brides taken by pirates in the 10th century. Today, twelve young women selected from residents of the Venice area take part in processions in historical dresses, and the winner receives the title on the final day.
No, but wearing at least a mask helps you get into the spirit. Shops in the city rent historical clothing, and palace balls usually require full costume.
Three models are classic: the bauta, which covers the entire face and is worn with the tabarro; the moretta, feminine and mute; and the gnaga, with catlike features, used in role‑switching games.