Carnevale di Venezia - A video by
juliane8part2
Music by Giuseppe Verdi
Venice: the festivals
Carnevale di Venezia
Carnival, or Carnevale, is Venice's answer to Mardi Gras
and Fasching. For eight days before Lent each winter, tourists flood the city for an orgy of
pageants, commedia dell'arte, concerts, balls, and masked self-display until
Shrove Tuesday signals an end to the party.
The carnival of Venice was first recorded in 1268. The
subversive nature of the festival is reflected in the many laws created over the
centuries in Italy attempting to restrict celebrations and often banning the
wearing of masks.
Masks have always been a central feature of the Venetian
carnival; traditionally people were allowed to wear them between the festival of
Santo Stefano (St. Stephen's Day, December 26) at the start of the
carnival season and midnight of Shrove Tuesday. As masks were also allowed
during Ascension and from October 5 to Christmas, people could spend a large
proportion of the year in disguise Maskmakers (mascareri) enjoyed a
special position in society, with their own laws and their own guild.
In 1797 Venice became part of the Austrian-held Kingdom of
Lombardy-Venetia when Napoleon signed the Treaty of Campo Formio. The Austrians
took control of the city on January 18, 1798 and it fell into a decline which
also effectively brought carnival celebrations to a halt for many years.
Carnival was outlawed by the fascist government in the 1930's. It was not until
a modern mask shop was founded in the 1980s that a revival of old traditions
began.
Carnival starts eight days before and ends on Shrove Tuesday
(Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras), the day before Ash Wednesday.
The Venice Film Festival (
Italian Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica)
(1934-today) is the oldest Film Festival in the World (it began in 1932 as
Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica) and takes place every
year in late August/early September on the Lido di Venezia in the historic
Palazzo del Cinema on the Lungomare Marconi, in Venice, Italy. Between
[1946-1947] the festival was named "Manifestazione Internazionale d'Arte
Cinematografica".
Its main award is the "Leone d'Oro" (Golden Lion).
Recently, a new award has been added, the San Marco Award for the best film in
the "controcorrente" section.
The Venice Film Festival is part of the Venice Biennale, a
major biennial exhibition and festival for contemporary art.
The festival in 2006 was
the 63nd.
The Venice Film Festival has been called one of the
world's most prestigious film festivals.
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Venice Biennale Arte
The Venice Biennial originated in 1895 as an international art
exhibition in the Giardini di Castello. In the 1930's, the organizing
institution became autonomous, which from then on arranged festivals for music
(since 1930), film (since 1932) and theater (since 1934), as well.
As a consequence of the political events in 1968, the Venice
Biennial discontinued several of its traditional activities. In 1973 the
organization was reformed, and since 1975 it has also arranged international
architecture exhibitions. The Biennale received a new statute in 1998.
Robert Storr will direct the 52nd edition of the Biennale in
2007.
Every Venetian must have an
18th-century outfit mothballed in a closet to break out for yearly fetes such as
Carnevale and, of course, this "historical regatta" -- less of a race than
merely a parade of gorgeously bedecked gondolas and other boats laden with
costumed gentry for a day cruising the Grand Canal.
Great and splendid Regattas have always been
held on numerous occasions in Venice: the visit of a foreign prince, the
election of a Doge or of a new Pope were the occasions on which the pomp and
power of the Serenissima Republic were paraded before visitors’ eyes.
Today the Regata Storica is held the first
Sunday in September.
