Venice Carnival 2010
In 2010, the Venice Carnival will be celebrated under the motto “Sensation” from February 6 to 16. February 16, 2010, is Martedì Grasso (Mardi Gras). This year, too, the Venice Carnival will open with the “Volo dell’angelo,” or Flight of the Angel. This is an old tradition in which a prominent person glides down from the Campanile di Giotto to St. Mark’s Square on a steel cable. This ritual opens the Venice Carnival, and the colorful festivities begin, characterized by striking masks. Musical performances, plays, and parades in downtown Venice come together to create an impressive spectacle that visitors will not soon forget. As every year, the focal point is Piazza San Marco—St. Mark’s Square. Most of the major events take place here, including the Festa delle Marie (on February 7) and the grand tango evenings held during the Venice Carnival.
Der Karneval in Venedig im Jahr 2010 findet ĂĽberwiegend auf dem Piazza San Marco vom 06.02.-16.02.2010 statt. Die Lagunenstadt erwartet hundertausende von Besuchern zum Karneval in Venedig.
Date: 16/02/2009
The Venice Carnival lasts only about a week and a half each year. Visitors can look forward to traditional celebrations and many events, such as the “Concorso della Maschera più Bella,” a competition in which the most beautiful masks of the current carnival season are awarded prizes.
Festival of Masks: Venice Carnival
Year after year, the Venice Carnival offers visitors to the city a truly unique and impressive experience. In Venice, Carnival is entirely devoted to Venetian masks—a tradition that dates back more than 800 years. Many of the masks depict characters from the Commedia dell’arte and are elaborate and expensive to make.
What many visitors to the city do not know is that this old tradition was banned for a long time: Venice’s rulers viewed Carnival as a thorn in their side. Napoleon’s invasion of Venice in 1797 led to a ban on the city’s colorful festivities. It was not until almost 200 years later, in 1979, that local artists revived the Venetian Carnival. Today, the Venice Carnival is an important hallmark of the city, attracting millions of visitors to the lagoon city every year and forming part of Venice’s city marketing efforts. It is now rare to see Venetians in costume in Piazza San Marco—the dreamlike figures are hired each year by the city’s marketing organization and provide a popular photo opportunity against the backdrop of the lagoon city.
