February will be a great month for Venice, on Valentine's Day in the Lagoon the Carnival celebrations will begin: the 14 February it will be the first day of the calendar of events that will be extended until March 4.
As always, in this period Venice will be full of official and unofficial initiatives, which will gradually enrich the program. The 2014 theme will be "The fantastic nature": the fairytale as an opportunity to address the relationships between man and the environment that surrounds him with stories from all over the world, characterizing this city as always as a meeting point of cultures, peoples and traditions.
The party of lovers will be celebrated in the theater with the show "Romeo and Juliet - Letters from the liquid world" at the Fondamenta Nuove Theater. On February 15 the dance will start with the big one Venetian festival on the water, an aquatic show of music, colors and fantastic creatures on the banks of Cannaregio that will continue the following morning with a large parade of rowing associations that will travel along the Grand Canal and will end with the opening of the food and wine stands in the Rio di Cannaregio area (near the Ponte delle Guglie) where you can taste the typical sweets of the carnival, but also the inevitable cicheti.
For this day the Nordic Walkin Carnival was organized: a "Carnival Hunt”Through the Venetian streets armed with walking sticks, divided into four teams and armed with the typical Bauta. Those who want to inaugurate the celebrations in an alternative way, the solution is certainly there Zombie walk: prepare your masks and join the procession that will disembark at the Fondamenta Zattere and head for a party evening to Rialto.
The following weekend will be full of events: Saturday 22, in the early afternoon, in San Marco it will take place the traditional Festa delle Marie, which recalls the Doge's custom of donating doge jewels to 12 young and humble Venetian maidens, during which it is possible to attend a sumptuous and elegant historical procession. On this day and in the following days until March 4th it will then be possible to participate in the traveling theater "The secrets of Venice" (11 am, 14.30 pm and 16.30 pm) which will accompany the discovery of the most secret city led by Codega, based on the stories of Alberto Toso Fei, the perfect opportunity to discover a different Venice and maybe learn something more about its intriguing history.
Always starting from Saturday 22 until February 26 and on March 2 and 4 at the Gran Teatro in Piazza San Marco the daily contests that will award the best masks. From Thursday 27 February to 2 March instead the selections and the Grand Finale of the competition will take place, during which the best mask of this carnival will be awarded. All appointments will be at two times: in the morning at 11 and at 15 in the afternoon.
Also from February 27 will start Nights at the Arsenale, which from this year will become the protagonist of evenings of great festivities in the name of tradition with traditional boats, musicians and a sumptuous set-up which, however, will lead to a great after show at 23pm.
Sunday 23 February there will be one of the most anticipated moments of the Venetian Carnival: the flight of the angel. This year it will be the turn of Julia Nasi, the “Maria” winner of the 2013 edition who will “play” from the top of the bell tower on the stage of the Gran Teatro, where the Doge will be waiting for her. On March 2, the square will again be the protagonist of the "Flight of the Eagle", the identity of which is still unknown for this year.
A jury of mascareri experts instead, on March 3, will award the most beautiful face masks that for the occasion will parade on the stage of the Gran Teatro. The next day at 16.30 pm it will be time forcoronation of Mary of the year which will arrive in San Marco at the end of the doge procession departing from San Giacomo dell'Orio. Subsequently, at 17 pm there will be the Svolo del Leon to conclude the Carnival celebrations. On the evening of March 4, one of the most exciting moments of this event will take place, sealing its end: the Row of Silence, a silent procession of gondolas, which starts from Rialto and reaches Punta della Dogana along the Grand Canal lit by candles.
For the whole period, until the end of the Carnival, in Campo San Polo it will be possible ice skating like every winter (tourist rate € 10 with skate rental). Each district will then be the protagonist of numerous other events that crowd an increasingly busy program: theatrical performances at the Fenice and at the Fondamenta Nove Theater, guided tours of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, concerts, exhibitions, film screenings, workshops and much more, in particular a full program of initiatives dedicated to children and families is foreseen.
On the official website of the Carnival you will find the details of all the events, I advise you to consult it carefully, it is updated every day with many news.
And here is also the news regarding unofficial events: this year CarneValanga returns to Campo Manin from 27 February to 4 March; after so many years also Campo Santa Margherita on February 21 will return to being a place of celebrations and finally the Castello district will also have its Carnival starting from Saturday 22 February. Concerts with live music, children's parties, workshops and shows for everyone.
