At first, I thought Venice would be empty if I visited in February. Then I remembered Venice Carnival. While not as big as the Carnival in Rio or Notting Hill Festival, it certainly makes the city crowded.
Venice Carnival, a.k.a. Carnevale
The origins of Venice Carnival date back to the 12th century. It became quite popular in the 17th century as an outlet for debauchery and intermingling between different castes of society with the anonymity offered by masks. Eventually, the festival was fully banned by the Holy Roman Empire at the end of the 17th century. The modern festival was officially inaugurated in 1979. Since then, the festival has grown massively in size, reaching an attendance of nearly three million people. To put that into perspective, there are less than 50,000 inhabitants in the historic center of Venice.
As was tradition, many of the masquerade balls at Venice Carnival are private (and pricy) affairs. Of course, you can see elaborately costumed characters on the streets, but if you want the full experience, you’ll going to have to fork out quite a bit of money to attend one of the private events, preferably not in a rented costume.
Masks Everywhere
The purpose of Carnival has certainly shifted over the centuries. The word comes from carn meaning meat or flesh, and levare meaning to put away. So it was the period of time to avoid meat leading up to Lent. Centuries later, this changed to a licentious party with everyone wearing masks to hide their identity while they let loose.
Nowadays, masks are easily the biggest aspect of Venice Carnival. As you walk around the city, you’ll find countless masks of all shapes and sizes (and price tags) available to purchase. The most traditional Venitian mask is a beautifully decorated paper mache work of art covering most of the face but leaving the nose and mouth bare (as seen in Eyes Wide Shut).
Of course, you could buy your own mask for the festival, but the purists will always make their own to use. And with the mask goes a full, period-accurate costume to wear. I was amazed at the attention to detail, which was as elaborate as what I saw at Notting Hill Festival, although with a different theme.
Is Carnevale Worth Seeing?
So the question is whether it’s worth visiting Venice when the city is absolutely packed with carnival attendees. Perhaps it’s because I went on the opening weekend before the bigger masquerade balls, but the crowds didn’t feel that bad. There were a couple places, such as the roads leading up to Ponte de Rialto, where people bottlenecked. However, it wasn’t nearly as busy as the time I visited Venice in April.
The other benefit to visiting in February is that Venice is much cleaner, both in the city and in the water. I’ve seen plenty of photos of Venice when the water is a murky brown, but we enjoy a beautiful turquoise color on our visit – similar to what you see along the rest of the coast in Italy. I also learned from a walking tour guide that the…umm…stuff in the plumbing pipes under the houses tends to freeze and build up over the cold months. That all thaws out and flows into the canals in the warmer months, making the waters brown and the air rather pungent.
Overall, I would absolutely recommend visiting Venice during Carnival. Sure, the city can be crowded, but it’s not nearly as bad as the summer months, and all the costumes are wonderful to see. Just remember that it can get very cold in Italy during the winter (it was freezing when we visited), so make sure to dress appropriately.
