Planning Your Trip and Upcoming 2011 Events

Its difficult to decide when to come to Venice. It is wonderful to visit all year round. Here are some points of reference to help you choose the season which suits you best. Events taking place during of 2011 (the actual dates of some events listed below will be specified as soon as they are confirmed

If you are a music lover: Orchestral concerts are held from May to July and from September to December. The Fenice Theatre has finally re-opened its doors after a devastating some years ago. The Opera season runs from December to May; Jazz Concerts and the Festival of Contemporary Music take place in September, but you can attend a concert almost any day of the year in Various churches. Concerts are also given regularly in the Church of the Pieta, where Antonio Vivaldi was once Music Director of the of the all-girl orphan orchestra. The Music, Theatre and Dance Biennale also hosts many events. Program of projects, productions and world premieres, Teatro Verde, Teatro Piccolo Arsenale, Teatro alle Tese. Theatre: From March to September, Music: From May to October, Dance: From June to September.

Do you like the Theatre?: From October to May, you can see world class performances at the Teatro Goldoni. The Cini Foundation occasionally presents open air performances during the summer and in the Campo S. Polo there is an open air cinema during the summer showing the latest films, many of which are in English.

Film Lovers Rejoice!: Lido is the "in" place to be in during late August and early September (as well as the summer months on this first class beach) The world-famous International Film Festival is chock full of the latest films and celebrities! An experience you won't want to miss! It takes place for a ten day period from the end of August through the beginning of September every year. Also taking place in Sept. on the first Sunday of the month is the incredibly beautiful Historical Regatta parade along the Grand Canal.

Contemporary Art is the focus of the Venice Biennale The Biennale, www.labiennale.org, takes place from June through November. This international festival takes place in the Giardini Pavilions in Castello

Traditional Festivals are held throughout the year; September 4th, 2011 brings the spectacular Regata Storica in mid-Sept., a historical regatta in period costumes; November, the Day of the Madonna della Salute mid. Nov., and in May, the Day of the Sensa, when Venice renews her vows of marriage with the sea. The Day of Redentore, www.comune.venezia.it/turimo, is held on the third Sunday in July, culminating in an extraordinary fireworks display.

6 January - (Epiphany) Regata delle Befane - An ancient Italian tradition which, in Venice, involves a rowing competition along the Grand Canal (starting at San Toma and ending at the Rialto Bridge) between men dressed as the Italian witch-like character well known to all Italian children as ‘Befana’. The ‘Befane’ aim to be first to reach the giant stocking hung especially for the occasion from the Rialto Bridge.

02-26 to 03-08, 2011 - (The ten days leading up to Shrove Tuesday) The Venice Carnival (Carnevale) – A festival famous throughout the world for its theatricality and exuberance, its masks and merriment. A time of grand balls, celebrating in the squares, elaborate disguises and time-honoured traditions harking all the way back to the 13th century. The entire city is given over to costumed revels, impromptu street concerts, and pageants and balls of every kind. This is an experience you will treasure for a lifetime!

March 2011 (actual date to be confirmed) The Venice International Boat Show – The 9th edition, held at the Stazione Marittima.

25th of April. St Mark's Day / Festa del Bocolo - A feast in honour of St. Mark, the patron saint of Venice. On this day Venetian men give their loved ones a single red rose known as a "Bòcolo".

16 May 2011 - (The first Sunday after Ascension Day - 40 days after the Easter) Festa e Regata della Sensa - The symbolic marriage of Venice to the sea. The Mayor of Venice, civic dignitaries and religious and military representatives leave St Mark's Square and sail, accompanied by boats and rowers in historic costume, to the Port of S. Nicolò where they ritually throw a ring into the ocean. A laurel wreath is also laid in memory of those lost at sea. The procession disembarks at the Church of San Nicolò del Lido, where a solemn religious ceremony takes place. A Sensa market takes place in the grounds of the church and in the afternoon a gondola regatta ends the day’s festivities.

May 2011 (actual date to be confirmed) Vogalonga - A spectacular event attracting worldwide interest from spectators and participants alike. The vogalonga is a strenuous but friendly rowing race from St Mark’s Basin to the island of Burano returning via the Cannaregio Canal and Grand Canal before finally ending at the Punta Della Dogana. All kinds of rowing boats are involved, many from overseas. Started in 1975 by a group of rowing enthusiasts, the event is a visual feast with 1550 boats and 5800 participants taking part in 2007.

Last week of June Festa di San Pietro in Castello – traditional festivities celebrated in this ancient parish found to the east of the city.

17-18 July 2011 - (Third Weekend in July) Festa del Redentore - One of the Venetians' most loved events which came into being as a feast to give thanks for the end of the plague of 1575. A pontoon bridge is built every year from the Zattere in Dorsoduro over to the Church of the Redentore on the island of Giudecca. At sunset on the Saturday a large number of decorated boats begin congregating in St Mark's Basin and people line the lantern-strung waterfronts to party, eat traditional food and to wait for the fireworks to begin (a breathtaking spectacle which begins at 11.30pm and lasts until after midnight). A wonderfully atmospheric evening which is followed on the Sunday with church services and a regatta on the Giudecca Canal.