The Venice Carnival is going wild, it's true. Despite the rain that limited, during the first week of events, the masked strolls through the streets and squares. This has made the many tourists already in the city prefer the warmth of the cafés in Piazza San Marco. Where 18th-century ladies in French-style dresses with tight bodices and gentlemen in tricorn hats and tailcoats sip coffee and hot chocolate. But the weather forecast is improving, and on this central weekend of the Carnival, Olympus. The Origins of the Game continues his journey into the myth of games. The ancient ones and the modern ones. Intentionally connecting with the recently opened Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Games.
And because, over the centuries, in Venice, Carnival was also a great stage for competitions, circus performances, and tests of collective skill. These, in some ways, anticipated, or at least shared, the spirit of the modern Olympics. This led to the Venice Carnival being included in the official calendar of cultural events related to the Games.
Between night-time water games, masked parades, public and private parties
In this now well-tested mix of spontaneous demonstrations, comedies of art, street artists, masked parades and widespread public and private parties, the shows have started in the ancient spaces of the Arsenal. Ideal location for Arsenale Water Show - The Call of OlympiaNine evenings of water games with dancing fountains, lights, and immersive projections. All to tell the story of a fisherman who dreams of the immortality of the gods. Five challenges to conquer it, spanning continents, elements, and senses... Earth, water, fire, and air, in a pastiche of Venetian, Italian, English, French, and Latin, tell the story of a fantastic journey, starting as men and returning as heroes.
From the waters of the ancient Arsenal to the refined spaces of a palace overlooking the Grand Canal, among the most iconic in the lagoon city. Here we are at Ca' Vedramin Calergi, where, among many illustrious historical figures, the German composer Richard Wagner lived for two years, dying here on February 13, 1883, right around this time... Ca' Vendramin Calergi Carnival becomes a mystery with the Dinner Show which this year is dedicated to Song of AmbrosiaAmidst Baroque velvets and golden lights, an experience has begun (with a series of events continuing until the end of Carnival) that marks the beginning of the official dinners. Every evening, the halls are filled with singers, musicians, performers, actors, magicians, tarot readers, fakirs, dancers, burlesque artists... and gods of Olympus. Cups of Ambrosia, the drink of the gods, accompany a menu specially designed for this tale.
The twelve Marys of Carnival parade along the Grand Canal, recalling a thousand-year-old tradition
Strongly linked to tradition the water procession – the second of the Carnival after the one that opened the event – of the 12 Marys of Carnival. In a gondola, along the Grand Canal, to the scenic arrival in Piazza San Marco.
A thousand-year-old story (it was the year 973) of twelve Venetian girls kidnapped by Dalmatian pirates, found and brought back to Venice amid great celebration. It is the tale of a historical fact that really happened and which over the centuries, in different ways and with different rites, has always been remembered.
The Commedia dell'Arte in the city where the first theatre in the world was born
Venice is an open-air stage for the Commedia dell'Arte which these days sees her as the protagonist in Piazzetta San Marco and in Campo San Polo. But also in Campo San Cassiano where the first theatre in Venice, and in the world, was built in 1637. Various national and international companies perform theater among the people, under the Venetian sky, which has seen many of these comedies over the centuries: with Casanova, Harlequin, Pantalone, and Pulcinella.
I Street Games enchant from one square to another in the city, giving life to a great agora (to stay on topic) of games. Last but not least the Carnival of Culture which finds space in theaters and museums with extraordinary openings and excellent shows. Among these, at Goldoni Theater on stage “Mirandolina”, an original reinterpretation of Goldoni's La Locandiera. Fenice two Verdi operas: Simon Boccanegra and La Traviata. The Biennial International Children's Carnival which this year brings to Venice for the first time three Olympian Artists, Olympic and Paralympic athletes who practice art.
That very long Carnival, a unique spectacle that already in the eighteenth century attracted half of Europe to Venice
And let it be a celebration, as it has historically been for centuries. Alvise Zorzi writes in his The Republic of the Lion that in the eighteenth century in Venice, “Between the comings and goings of illustrious visitors and the continuity of the city celebrations… the main attraction… was the Carnival, a very long Carnival", that "Before Lent... it reached its peak... an incredible crowd filled the square... Harlequins and Pantaloni and Pulcinella and Balanzoni and Brighella... and fake patricians... fake gondoliers, fake coalmen. Between this unique spectacle... and the multitude of other shows, receptions, and balls... it's no wonder half of Europe flocked to Venice to enjoy the Carnival.".
(Photo credits: Venice Carnival press office)
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