Carnevale

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Carnevale means, literally, "meat goes" or at least something like that. It is the lead up to Lent, and is the period of debauchery before the period of abnegation and self-denial before Easter. Here, in Venice, Carnevale began a week ago with a series of festivities: a parade of masks, the Flight of the Angel of Carnevale, fireworks, and lots of parties. Throughout the city people parade in elaborate costumes, posing for cameras wherever they go. Many are clearly practiced in their poses, turning and vogueing the moment a camera appears. Many of these Venetians are wearing sumptuous costumes specially created by designers, and will be part of the various competitions that take place during Carnevale.

These masked men and women ( and sometimes children, and even dogs) are seen all over the city now. Sometimes they collect in a single area, frequently San Marco, where a stage is set up and performances are ongoing. This morning, down by the Santa Maria della Salute church, about one hundred revelers gathered in full Carnevale regalia to pose and strut and chat as the rest of us took pictures and asked questions. At one point, all the Carnevalia assembled on the church steps for a single photo op. Was it planned? Was it spontaneous? One of the house faculty, Roberta, told me that things like this just happen all over the city during Carnevale.

I was lucky to stumble upon the crowd at Salute this am and got these pics. As you can see, just about anything goes, costume-wise.

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Photos

Carnevale trio
Carnevale trio

Carnevale duo
I'm not sure what these two were doing, but they looked great doing it.

Comments

[Lala]

Gorgeous.

[nancic123]

Carnevale!
Glad to hear at least one other Travelblogger was here to enjoy the festivities. We have been here since Feb. 7th and are staying for a month. We had a great time but are kind of looking forward to a few less people everywhere we go (we live in Castello, 3 minutes from San Marco). Anyway, enjoyed your pictures. Check out our blog if you get a chance- Dave and Nanci

[AdrianaIna]

Carnevale
Thanks! Will check out your blog. Things are much quieter today--back to la Serenissima! We live in Dorsorduro at Casa Artom, next to the Guggenheim. See you around town.