Traditions

Carnival

The Venice carnival (Mardi Gras) has its own traditions, history and culture and it an international well-known event and festivals. It is the biggest and most elaborate carnival festivals.

In the past, the first Venice carnival was at 1268. It was unruly, with parades and bull chasing games in the Pamplona style. The use of masks to cover the faces made it even more transgressive, and the Mascareri, the mask-makers had a special position in Venice. Everyone could wear a mask during the carnival without the barriers of gender and social status.

The city was occupied by Napoleon in 1797, and this actually ended the Repubblica Serenissima, “The Most Serene Republic”. After Venice became part of the Austrian Empire the celebration of carnival was halted, and restarted only in the 1970s. Today, Venetian have reinvented the ancient masks and costumes in a style that melts together the dress styles from the Middle Ages through the 1700s.

It is celebration for everybody to feel free to sing and dance without being recognized because everyone will be wearing masks. The carnival has sold Italian traditional food like Frittelle and Frappe and many more. Even hotels and theaters in Venice is celebrating the carnivals as they organized traditional dance performance, opera singing and also held masked ball.

This carnival has attracted not only the locals but also the tourists to enjoy and experience themselves. The carnival is a great tourist attraction and it located at St Marks’ Square. It is celebrated at the month of February and the whole carnival take place around 2 weeks. With the unique art and building architecture of Venice, it makes the carnival has own characteristics and attractiveness. The Venice Carnival, is a large exhibition of not only its history or traditions, but in today’s’ times it resembles the human spirit to be together and celebrate the life.

The mask

Those who attended the carnival have to wear the Venetian masks as they are the iconic to Venice Carnival. there is an interesting meaning of wearing it. In the past during the hierarchical society, to give the humble classes the way of thinking that they are similar to the more powerful classes, this helped to diminish social tension in between the two classes. Some masks also tend to reflect on Venetian society. Today, the masks and costumes are part of the reasons that the tourists come for to search for fun and get them involved in the carnival.