It's definitely a wet Carnival this year, winding through the palaces, streets, and squares of Venice. The rain, however, hasn't stopped the usual parades of masks: not only those on the stage in Piazza San Marco, competing for the Most Beautiful Mask, but also the many masked people passing by in the streets. And who, needless to say, favor the captivating and spectacular eighteenth-century Venetian dress—both male and female.
Dreaming, as if in a time machine, of reliving for a few days that era and those Carnivals, so dear to the Serenissima that they were postponed, it was the year 1789, the year of the death of Doge Paolo Venier. His death was kept secret and communicated to the city only after Carnival. So as not to spoil the celebration, and not to ruin the lavish profits that were already pouring into Venice at the time, where “to enjoy the Carnival” half of Europe arrived, as the writer Alvise Zorzi reported in one of his volumes: “Voltaire has his Candide meet, in a Venetian inn, seven kings who have come, all seven of them, to the lagoons for this very purpose.”. Already at the time, a truly international Carnival.
“Cut the head off the bull”, that of the Patriarch of Aquileia defeated by the Serenissima
Meanwhile Shrove Thursday, on the stage in Piazza San Marco, the bull's head has fallen, in line with an ancient tradition dear to the Venice Carnival. That this year, on the theme Olympus – The Origins of the Game, It draws inspiration from the nearby and contemporary Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, but it doesn't forget its history. In this case, we're in the Middle Ages, the era of the supremacy of the Serenissima over the Patriarchate of Aquileia.
After the defeat, the Patriarch was imposed an annual tribute: a bull, twelve loaves of bread, and twelve pigs, symbolically sacrificed in St. Mark's Square. The bull represented the defeated enemy, the pigs his allies. At the time, they were made of flesh and blood; today, they are papier-mâché animals, but the symbolic meaning is the same. “Cut the head off the bull”, a saying no longer just Venetian, it means to decide, to overcome uncertainty, just as the Serenissima did with its adversaries.
The parades of the Maries and the dances in Piazza San Marco
The top Carnival events also include the parades of the Maries and many costumed figuresWe are preparing for the last weekend of Carnival. stage in St. Mark's Square, set up with an Olympic theme, will host a succession of performances, music and shows. Circus and comic theatre artists will take to the stage, along with athletes ready to challenge a corrupt referee, 18th and 19th century dances, Argentine tango and Latin American dances.Saturday evening will see the square become a Glitter Disco with '70s music and light shows, while on Sunday the day will conclude with a lively and exciting performance by the Queen cover band.
Magical evenings at the Arsenale and Ca' Vendramin Calergi
Great wait for the Parade of the Most Beautiful Mask in St. Mark's Square on Saturday and for the proclamation of the winning mask on Sunday. AtArsenale appointments with the magical Water Show The Call of Olympia. Ca' Vendramin Calergi continues Dinner Show Carnival official, The Song of Ambrosia. And to celebrate Valentine's Day in style, on Saturday evening at Scuola Grande della Misericordia of scene more Amore, XXXIII edition of the Dance of the DogeA costumed gala show that is a masked ball, a social event, a lavish banquet, an artistic performance and much more.
The events of the Carnival of Culture
Walking through Venice you will meet street games and comedies of art. Entering the theater, The Phoenix proposes La Traviata and the Goldoni Theater Mirandolina. The Biennale stages the International Children's Carnival with Olympic and Paralympic athletes who practice an artistic discipline. Monday in the Apollonian Halls of the La Fenice Theatre will be proclaimed Mary of Carnival 2026 and Tuesday, last day of the holidays, will parade in a water procession to San Marco and will be presented to the public from the stage in the Piazza. Then a few more hours of celebration, of costumes and masked balls, of fritole and galani, confetti and streamers: Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent.
(Photo credits: Venice Carnival press office)
