Grace Flynn
After a three-year hiatus, Carnevale di Venezia is back, bringing the return of colourful gondole, glittering maschere (masks – and not the covid type!) and plenty of delectable dolci (sweets) to the floating city.
If you took Italian in school, you may already be familiar with the iconic costumes and beautifully decorated masks that Carnevale is known for. But there’s much more behind the mask of this nation-wide celebration (the fun isn’t just reserved for Venice, after all). From the festival’s interesting history to its colourful processions, Carnevale is more than just a costume party.
The 2023 Carnevale celebrations began on Saturday, February 4 and will continue until Tuesday, February 21 under this year’s astrology-inspired theme, ‘Take Your Time For The Original Signs’. Here’s all that you need to know about the vibrant Italian festival.
A giant papier-mâché rat?
On Sunday, around 100 ornate boats sailed down the Grand Canal led by none other than a seven-metre floating papier-mâché rat.
Known as the ‘Pantegana’, this curious rodent-inspired art project has become somewhat of a humorous staple at Carnevale. When the tradition began, the Pantegana was thrown from the bridge so as to appear as if it were flying as a parody of il Volo dell’Angelo, or the Angel’s Flight, which dates back to the mid-16th century and typically sees a costumed Venetian woman flying through the air attached to a harness.
Due to works in the piazza, there was no Flight of the Angel, leaving the giant rat to take centre stage, or centre canal, rather.