Venice carnival 2016
The carnival events will starts on January 23,2016 and will run through the Martedi Grasso ( or fat Tuesday) on February 9th. Here you can find the 12 core events : see the program. The final week-end of the festival is the most exiting. If you are looking for something fun to do, then come to Venice, as the celebration is one of most famous carnivals.
From January 23 – February 9, 2016, Venice will slough off the winter gloom and burst into life. During the Carnival (Carnevale), this most magical of cities fills with a mass of masked party-goers – posing and preening, dancing and philandering, in a slightly surreal re-invention of a great tradition of the city.
Glancing at the portrayals of 18th-century Venetian life in the works of Pietro Longhi or Gabriele Bella in the Querini Stampalia gallery (querinistampalia.it) or the Ca’ Rezzonico museum (visitmuve.it) will reveal that that was exactly what Venice in its party prime was all about. It’s not for everybody. It can be intensely crowded, and rates in hotels and restaurants soar. But it is a unique occasion, and a great time to see the city in a new and exciting light.
When to visit the Venice Carnival
Those that get here mid-week during the first week might wonder what all the fuss is about: besides the skating rink in Campo San Polo and a handful of low-grade events in out-of-the-way corners, there’s not a lot to keep you busy. If it’s excitement you want, aim for the weekends, and the final weekend in particular.
Key dates
Venice Carnival parties and masked balls
Where to go to see the Carnival
What to wear at the Venice Carnival
Where to stay during the Carnival
Venice Carnival 2016 admission costs
Carnevale: a history of masks
see more on Telegraph
Canaletto and his rivals in Brescia
Venice in the 18th century became the subject of choice for painters. Europe has many beautiful cities but only Venice inspired a school of view painters who depicted the city, palazzo by palazzo, representing views that are still recognizable today.
The most beautiful and famous ‘veduta’ (view) paintings of Venice are set to go on display at Brescia’s Palazzo Martinengo from January 23 to June 12 in the exhibit ‘Splendor of Venice: Canaletto, Bellotto, Guardi and the ‘vedutisti’ of the 1800s’.About 100 masterpieces from the 18th and 19th centuries will be on display, from prestigious private and public collections both Italian and international. The show reveals the charm of the lagoon city that, more than any other, has represented a timeless myth in the collective imagination.This exhibit doesn’t stop with Francesco Guardi, as so often happens in shows of the vedutisti, but rather continues through the decades of the 19th century as well. Curator Davide Dotti selected significant works that manage to cross 200 years of painting history, while the paintings populated by actors in period costumes and characters from the Commedia dell’Arte often frame famous Venetian celebrations like the Feast of the Redeemer, the Historic Regatta, and Carnival animated by its traditional masks.
Gritti Palace, the city’s most historic hotel
The Gritti palace is not just any hotel. It is one of the most historic and sumptuously places to stay in Venice. Its restaurant ” Club del Doge” is the place to go for a Venetian meal with a view.
In many ways the weeks before Christmas are the perfect time to visit Venice. The crowds have abated, and there is no more haunting sight than the lagoon cloaked in mist, so dense when I visited last weekend that one couldn’t see the top of the campanile in St Mark’s Square.
Of course the downside is that some of the finest hotels – the Cipriani, the new JW Marriott – are closed for the winter season by now. But then both are off shore, so to speak, the latter on its own island (as the forthcoming Kempinski San Clemente Palace will be when it opens in March), a 20-minute ride away from San Marco on the hotel’s complimentary launch. Not ideal if there’s a lot you want to see.
Given that you’re unlikely to see change from €65 if you step into a water taxi (even a one-stop buy-on-board vaporetto ticket to cross a canal is €7.50), location is critical when choosing where to stay. And there aren’t many better-placed hotels than the Gritti Palace, a former doge’s home at the southern end of the Grand Canal, close to the Accademia Bridge.
via Telegraph.co.uk
New Years Eve in Venice
Spend New Year’s eve in Venice. Celebrating 2016 in Venice with a firework at San Marco square is a unique experience. Normally everybody would bring his own bottle of Champagne ( or of Prosecco, the local sparkling wine) and then would enjoying the collective party.
The main place to head for NYE 2016 celebrations is the symbolic St Mark’s Square. This is where the biggest crowds will be for counting down. There will be a NYE countdown to midnight via the bell of St. Mark’s Campanile, the imposing bell tower of St Mark’s Basilica (Campanile di San Marco to the Italian). The bell rings will be followed by the spectacular NYE fireworks display over city’s skyline. You won’t find many better backdrops than this anywhere in the world.
The square itself will be packed, but the beauty of Venice is it’s close-knit nature so finding viewing points elsewhere should not be a problem for those who prefer to avoid the crowds. The Punta della Dogana is a recommended spot for a panoramic view from across the water.
Another interesting event is the Venice New Year’s Concert at the spectacular Fenice Theatre, or Teatro La Fenice. The music show takes place each night from the 29th December 2015 to the 1st January 2016. New year’s day version of the concert is screened live on Italian TV channel Rai Uno and the conductor for this year’s event is Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
via Newyearseveblog