Events & Festivals in Venice

The flying witch Befana arcs over Campo San Polo on a zip-line, raining candy onto squealing children while boats on the Grand Canal clang bells. Sugared fritelle perfume the frost-nipped air.

Ten days of masked parades, candlelit balls in 15th-century palazzi and drumbeats ricocheting around St Mark's Square. Velvet capes sweep wet cobblestones and powdered wigs trap snow-flakes.

Private palazzi doors swing wide. Visitors drift across marble floors where candle smoke still hangs, listening to tales of doges in hushed, echoing salons.

Red rose petals drift from church balconies onto canal water while Venetians honour their patron saint. Bells of San Marco roll out in metallic waves, tangling with gondoliers' operatic serenades.

A non-competitive walk across 50+ bridges begins at dawn, bells of Santa Maria della Salute echoing through misty calles. Fresh espresso scent leaks from open doorways.

Thousands of rowboats increase up the Grand Canal at sunrise, paddles flashing silver under pink skies. Marsh reeds scrape hulls and shouts of 'Voga!' ride the salt-tanged wind.

International pavilions spread through Giardini and Arsenale, damp-canvas smell mixing with espresso. Bronze, glass and digital art glimmer beneath vaulted shipyard beams.

The city weds the sea in a centuries-old rite: a gold-ringed flotilla glides from San Nicolò to San Marco, water flashing like molten metal under noon sun.

Flat-keeled sandoli tear around the lagoon's vegetable island, oars churning green water while spectators sink teeth into sweet Sant'Erasmo artichokes sold from boats.

Boats raft together in Bacino di San Marco at dusk. The sky explodes in gold and violet sparks mirrored on black water while deck grills hiss with sardines.

Riva dei Sette Martiri stretches into one long seafood grill, the scent of garlic and scampi sizzling over the lagoon. Paper cones of fried calamari crackle between teeth.

Contemporary ensembles pack candle-scented Teatro alle Tende with electronic pulses and baroque strings bouncing off brick walls. Outside, accordion riffs drift over Arsenale puddles.

Costumed gondoliers in 16th-century garb row the Canal Grande before the real race, silk banners cracking overhead. Sunlight skates across water as oars slice through applause.

Red-carpet premieres and late-night screenings light Lido's open-air beach screens, salt spray mixing with popcorn. Paparazzi flashes bounce off the Art-Deco façades of Palazzo del Cinema.

Furnaces blaze orange across Murano while maestros twist molten glass into dragons and chandeliers. Heat spills onto narrow fondamenta, mingling with briny lagoon wind.

Runners hammer across 14 bridges to finish in Riva dei Sette Martiri, thighs burning, sweat mixing with briny breeze. Spectators rattle cowbells, the metallic clatter ricocheting off stone walls.

Pilgrims cross a candle-lit pontoon bridge over the Grand Canal to Santa Maria della Salute, wax dripping onto damp boards while incense spirals through evening fog.

A guided stroll winds through hidden bacari, tasting cicchetti of fried sage leaves, creamed salt-cod and prosecco that fizzes on the tongue. Bar walls glow amber beneath low-hanging lanterns.

Wooden huts on Campo San Salvador glow with fairy lights, mulled-wine scent and honey-drizzled fritters hanging in cold air. Hand-blown glass ornaments clink softly whenever breezes sweep through.

A midnight concert inside La Fenice sends Verdi arias soaring while chandeliers glint like ice. Outside, fireworks pop over the Bacino, sulphur drifting across moonlit water.