Feb

4

Carnival in Venice 2009: Sensation

February 4, 2009 | 3 Comments

It’s carnival season in Italy it starts right after the Epiphany and lasts until Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday). Pastries stores are filled up with carnival sweets: crostoli, frittelle and all the local specialties. Every place in Italy has its own traditions and some of them known worldwide. I feel lucky to live in Verona because we are famous for Venerdì Gnocolar (Gnocchi Festival) and its parade and also because I’m really close to Venice where I frequented a lot of carnivals. This year my mother in law and my niece are coming from the States to visit us and they chose this period of the year just for carnival, so I’m planning a lot of short trips and one or two of them are certainly dedicated to Venice.

Carnival in Venice is an event you should attend at least once in your life. I’m not partial when speaking about Venice because I consider it not only to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world but its carnival is truly spectacular as well.
This year the theme is Sensation 6 sensi x 6 sestrieri which means 6 senses x 6 districts. This edition is in fact dedicated to the senses: sight, touch, smell, hearing, taste and then the mind.
The events will be scattered throughout the city, a constellation of high quality street theater performances in the Venetian, Italian and European tradition. Each district will develop its own theme, visitors won’t be only spectators but will be involved and can actively participate. The format is organized by Venezia Marketing & Eventi the artistic director is Marco Balich. The whole event has been possible thanks to the work in synergy of the main Venetian institutions like the Biennale, La Fenice Theatre, the City of Venice and  the Veneto region just to name some.

As you can imagine I’m particularly interested in the Cannaregio district, the one dedicated to taste. The district will be inaugurated on Sunday 15th with Festa Veneziana* with the participation of the Venice Rowing Club water parade. “This is an occasion – the vice president of the Veneto region Franco Manzato said – to give as much visibility as possible to what makes the Veneto cuisine one of the most genuine of the world. For this reason I gave a wide space to the p.o.d consortium (protected designation of origin) with free tasting of the regional products but also a show with exceptional testimonials to bring international visitors to discover the good Veneto cuisine“. You’ll see then chefs in action and maybe they’ll reveal some of their secrets too. Food artists instead will create food and chocolate sculptures. Then starting from Saturday the 14th until the 24th, except on the 15th (11.00 – 15.00) you’ll find “Fritoin Express“* a boat where the fried specialties of Venice will be prepared by Maurizio Adamo, the chef will be accompanied by small groups of musicians that will entertain you with pieces of acoustic music. The boat will be at the Guglie Bridge, 10 minutes away from the train station just follow Strada Nuova and you’ll easily find it just follow the “smell of frying”.

Competition for the best mask 2008- courtesy of Venezia Marketing & Eventi

Another district I’m particularly interested in is Castello (the Touch) with its Carnevale al buio* (Carnival  in the dark). The event is based on the famous worldwide Dialogo nel Buio (dialogue in the dark): expert sightless guides will lead you around a sensorial circuit totally in the dark to intensify your senses, especially touch. The experience will be possible thanks to the collaboration with the Milan Institute for the Blind. The installation will be located at Corderie dell’Arsenale.

I certainly won’t miss on Valentine’s day the Noble Price Dario Fo with its Mistero Buffo and on the 15th il volo dell’angelo*  both in San Marco Square. Il volo dell’angelo is an ancient tradition that every year sees a celebrity literally flying from the Torre del Campanile to the ground. The event is accompanied by the Doge and Dogaressa’s historical parade. The square this year will resemble a renaissance garden with paths so visitors can parade and show their costumes.

There are so many events that is impossible to name them all and the calendar of events is still in the making.

Margherita Missoni protagonist of the Volo dell’angelo 2009  is wearing a white dress decorated with pailletes designed by her granfather Ottavio Missoni and two enormous decorated wings made from the fabric of the famous intenational maison – courtesy of Venezia Marketing & Eventi

I’ll be writing more about carnival in Italy soon but before going check out on Cooking with Patty some typical carnival sweets, you won’t regret it: crostoli, apple frittelle, polenta and ricotta frittelle and favette that I just published.

6 sensi x 6 sestrieri map – courtesy of Venezia Marketing & Eventi

*Note: For more information about the program visit the Carnival official website Venezia Marketing & Eventi some events might change so make sure to check before going.

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Comments

3 Comments so far

  1. Curt on February 6, 2009 9:53 am

    All I can say is; Wow!

  2. Ivonne on February 14, 2009 11:51 pm

    How I wish I was there! This is a really informative post!

  3. urooj on March 3, 2009 6:20 am

    amazing concept. just wow.

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