Carnevale was officially kicked off on Saturday 11 Feb. It started with a procession of boats and floats from near San Marco Square (Punta della Dogana) and ends up in the Cannaregio Sestiere along the Canal. It’s the left turn when you leave the station in a vaporetto going to Murano. It has 2 bridges which make for great viewing of the procession.
You can tell from the crowd that in order to get the best pictures, you needed to be in place mid afternoon. My compliments to Greg Vance photography as he has been posting beautiful pictures on facebook page. Thanks to our friends in Venice for some pictures and to NuovaVenezia for others.
The leader of the procession is the famous “pantegana” which has been raised from it’s lowly existence as a giant wharf rat to the leader of the floats for Carnevale! Believe me, they can be enormous in real life and a bit scary when they come out at night along the canals, but they are a fact of water cities everywhere.
The Pantegana approaches on the Grand Canal
The procession continues down the canal towards the train station, taking a turn in the Rio Cannaregio where large crowds line the bridges and the fondamenta.
Waiting for the Carnevale
And waiting for it to get dark. You best get here by about 2 p.m. to be assured of a spot to view. Night makes the floats more spectacular and magical.
Spectacular Floats
The fantasy of the floats and the acrobatics are amazing.
The Theme of this Years Carnival – Vanity
The parade ends with the Pantegana exploding releasing hundreds of balloons. Well like many fairy tales, they don’t always end well for everyone!
We’ll be posting much more from Venice in about a week!
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