the transformation of Venice

Our general sense of Venice when we arrived was that it is generally a pretty sleepy place. The grand piazzas were empty most of the time, and we could walk to dinner in the evenings barely meeting a soul on the street. Apart from the main tourist attractions, we never saw crowds or even big groups of Venetians hanging out. After being there a couple of days, we saw a sudden change on the Friday night - you could literally hear the wheels of the suitcases (which make a terrible racket on cobblestone streets) rolling into town. The beginning of Carnevale had come, and the city suddenly began to swell with the tourists and party goers.

Carnevale di Venezia is an annual festival held in Venice. It has taken place on and off for hundreds of years, officially established during the Renaissance, but outlawed and reinstated several times since then. Historically it has been a celebration of a victory of "the people" over "the establishment," with merry-making and festivities, and the wearing of masks, symbolizing resistance to established social and class hierarchies. This tradition mixes with the theatrical nature of Venice and the tradition of Commedia Dell'Arte. The different mask styles can be traced back to different characters and types. There is a great webpage describing them HERE.

Now mainly though, it is a festival for tourists. Apparently as many as 3 million people come to Venice over this few weeks. Sounds like most Venetians use this opportunity to get extra work, or they get out of town (perhaps accounting for how quiet Venice was prior to the start of the festival). Whatever it was, or has morphed into, it was fun for our kids and the students to witness this for a couple of days before we left Venice.