Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Best
Entertainment
Since the fall of its shipping empire, Venice has lived by its wits. No one throws a
party like Venice, from Carnevale masquerades to Regata Storica floating parades
- plus live opera, baroque music and jazz year-round, and summer movie premi-
eres and beach concerts.
Festivals
If you'd survived the plague and Austrian invasion, you'd throw parties too -
Venice celebrates with November's Festa della Madonna della Salute and July's
Festa del Redentore (see
www.turismovenezia.it
). Regatta season from May's Vo-
galonga (
www.vogalonga.com
) to September's Regata Storica
(
www.regatastoricavenezia.it
)
sees cheering crowds along canalbanks.
The Venice International Film Festival rolls out its red carpet from the last
weekend in August through the first week of September, bringing together inter-
national star power and Italian fashion.
Carnevale brings partying masqueraders onto the streets for two weeks preced-
ing Lent. Tickets to La Fenice's masked balls run up to €230, but there are public
costume parties in every
campo
(square) and a Grand Canal flotilla to mark the
end.
Live Music & Opera
A magnet for music fans for four centuries, Venice supplies a soundtrack of opera,
classical music and jazz. You can still enjoy music as Venetians did centuries ago:
Teatro La Fenice (
Click here
)
has been one of the world's top opera houses since
1792, while historical La Pietà (
Click here
)
orphanage is the original Vivaldi venue.
Due to noise regulations in this small city with big echoes, shows typically end by
11pm.
