Venice Destination Guide

  Places to See in Venice

  Events & Nightlife in Venice

  Eating out in Venice

  Shopping in Venice

  4 Perfect Days in Venice
 
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Events & Nightlife

As fantastic a destination as Venice is, it admittedly doesn't have a great deal in large-scale entertainments. Most people are content with simply sitting in the pavement cafés of the piazzas of an evening, while in the day the plethora of art and sightseeing on offer occupies anyone sufficiently.

The best spectacles in the city are often part of one of the many festivals that take place annually. Several times a year water pageants and processions make the canals even more beautifully colourful and there is often dancing, music and other festivities.

Music & Theatre

Classical Music and Opera

Almost all Italian cities have fabulous opera venues but there is something particularly stirring about La Fenice, Venice's venerable opera house. The theare was badly damaged by fire in 1996, but was renovated in its original style and, as you'd expect from its name (it means "the phoenix"), today the theatre displays all the opulence that it ever did throughout its more than 200-year history.

The Malibran Theatre also offers opera, ballet and symphonic performances. Tel: +39 041-786-575 for details on how to book performances at La Fenice and Malibran.

Theatre

More famous for theatre than Venice's other two main auditoriums (although all three of the main theatres carry all kinds of performances), the Goldoni is situated near to St Mark's Square on Calle Goldoni, and inside is almost as grand as its two more famous brethren. Tel: +39 041-520-5422.

Sport

Venice is one city in Italy where the inhabitants aren't football mad - for obvious reasons. The city does have a professional football team however in AC Venezia 1907, and having enjoyed a modicum of success recently the team is on a crest of popularity. Currently the team plays in Italy's Serie A (the top division). The stadium is located on the island of San Elena in the east of the city. Tickets cost from EUR20 to EUR65 depending on where you sit. Tickets are available from various locations in the city and from the stadium itself. Phone the club on Tel: +39 041-238-0711 for details.

Nightclubs

There are few nightclubs in the city of Venice itself. Generally speaking bars and cafés stay open so long that there is little need to move on later in the evening to a club to prolong a night out. Having said that, if you do hunt out one of Venice's clubs you'll find the music is suprisingly upbeat and modern in most venues and not the bland euro-pop you might expect.

Disco Club Piccolo Mondo is a tiny little place on the Calle Contarini, Tel: +39 041-520-0371. The small dance area gets packed and the music (mainly house dance vibes) shakes the whole place. Despite the cramped venue the club proves enduringly popular and Venetians and out-of-towners rate the night out highly.

Area Club is probably the largest of the clubs in the locale. The drawback is you have to go all the way to Mestre for your night out, but you'll be accompanied by a whole lot of Venetians with the same purpose. Area tends to play dance tunes alongside some lighter listening. The club is located at Via Don Tosatto, 9, on the mainland in Mestre. Tel: +39 041-958-000.

Just on the mainland side of the lagoon bridge is Sound Code, via delle Industrie 32, Marghera. Tel: +39 041-531-3890/524-4055. This large venue is where most of the dancers from the islands go for their late night grooves and probably takes the title of coolest club in Venice.

Special Events

February

Over ten days in February, Venice provides the stage for the Venice Carnival. Festivities date back to 1162 and celebrate the victory of the State of Serenissima (as Venice was known in those times) against the patriarch Ulrico. The carnival commences in St Mark's Square when over 90,000 visitors come to watch the traditional "flight of the Angel" tightrope walk from the campanile across the square. Entertainment during the ten-day carnival includes masked balls in traditional costume, street entertainers, mime artists, jugglers, musicians and theatre. For more information. Tel: +39 041-529-8711.

May

On Ascension Day, hundreds of boats row to the island of Burano for the Vogalonga (long row). Venetian rowing clubs as well as competitors from across the globe enter the race, which covers a gruelling 30km (18 miles). Tel: +39 041-521-0544 for information. The Festa della Sensa (Feast of the Ascension) is held on the Sunday after Ascension Day to mark the symbolic marriage of Venice to the sea that surrounds it. Each year the head of the city (the "Doge") sets sail towards the open sea accompanied by scores of decorated boats, before casting a ring, blessed with holy water, into the waves to renew the wedding together of city and sea. Tel: +39 041-274-7739 for information about the festival.

June-September

The Biennale Contemporary Art Exhibition is held in Venice's public gardens and galleries during the summer, from June through September. Contact the tourist office for more details. Tel: +39 041-529-8711.

July

The Festa del Redentore (Feast of the Redeemer) is a popular religious festival commemorating the saving of the city from the great plague of 1576. Hundreds of Venetians row out onto the canals for a floating picnic on St Mark's Basin. A procession of decorated boats makes its way to the Redentore Church, which was built on the Giudecca Island to honour Christ the Redeemer. This memorable day culminates in a fantastic array of fireworks over the water. Contact the tourist office for more details. Tel: +39 041-529-8711.

August/ September

The International Film Festival takes place at the end of summer each year on the Lido di Venetia. As well as screenings of new commercial films, there is a competition for short films, workshops and awards for distinguished artists. Try to catch a premiere or two. Tel: +39 041-521-8711 for details.

September

On the first Sunday of each September, the Regata Storica takes place on the Grand Canal. A procession of decorated boats complete with rowers in historical and traditional costume heralds the start of the celebrations, which continue with the city's gondoliers competing in a series of rowing races - the winners gaining much kudos for the coming year.

November

In November each year, the thanksgiving Festa della Madonna della Salute (Lady of Good Health) takes place on and around the bridges between the Grand Canal and the church of Santa Maria della Salute. The celebration is very popular and, like the Festa del Redentore, marks the end of a plague epidemic, this one in 1630. Stalls are erected to sell sweet pastries and candles, which are lit in the church to pay homage to Santa Maria. Tel: +39 041-529-8711 for more details.
 

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