The Venice Carnival pays tribute to the daring Giacomo Casanova. From February 14 to March 4: parades, performances in St. Mark’s Square, theater, masked parties, and historical reenactments for a journey through art and seduction in eighteenth-century Venice.
Seducer, adventurer, writer: the Venice Carnival 2025 reflects the legacy of Giacomo Casanova. Born on April 2, 1725, he traversed the eighteenth century amidst loves, escapes, and deceptions, leaving behind a rich bibliography that depicts a vibrant, intriguing, and dynamic Venice. Three hundred years after his birth, Venice dedicates a Carnival to him inspired by his life: Casanova’s Time.
From February 14, Valentine’s Day, the city raises the curtain on parties, water parades, and performances spread across calli and campielli. The Commedia dell’Arte brings deception and laughter to the stage, the Grand Canal welcomes the Pantegana, and the Twelve Maries and Carnivals of the World parade in St. Mark’s Square.
The waters of the Arsenale turn rainbow-colored with light shows and dance. Music until late at night at the Tese dell’Arsenale and Forte Marghera. In the theaters, drama takes on a noir hue, and in the palaces, the eighteenth century is reinvented with masked balls.
Read the detailed day-by-day program.
Our selection of Carnival events:
- Damiano Michieletto’s Rigoletto at Teatro La Fenice
Campo S. Fantin 1965
Until February 28
Rigoletto returns to La Fenice directed by Damiano Michieletto and conducted by Daniele Callegari. Verdi’s opera, part of the 2024-2025 Opera Season, is included in the Carnival with a production that moves the story to an asylum: a place of isolation where the jester, consumed by grief, obsessively relives his own tragedy.
Luca Salsi (alternating with Dalibor Janis) is Rigoletto, Ivan Ayon Rivas (or Davide Giusti) is the Duke of Mantua, Maria Grazia Schiavo (or Lucrezia Drei) is Gilda. Sets by Paolo Fantin, costumes by Agostino Cavalca, lighting by Alessandro Carletti, video by Roland Horvath.
In the Valentine’s Day performance, the audience can also participate, upon reservation, in a romantic dinner in the Sale Apollinee.
- The Wise Wife and other events at Teatro Goldoni
Teatro Goldoni, S. Marco 4650/B
from February 14 to 16
A noir Goldoni that subverts expectations: The Wise Wife, directed by Giorgio Sangati, opens the Carnival at the theater with a very tense psychological thriller, where a cunning Rosaura uses theater as a weapon against her husband Ottavio, who is determined to get rid of her for another woman. The author presents the protagonist with a book in hand because it is her knowledge that will save her. The work intertwines tragedy and farce, also leaving room for an unprecedented vision of relationships. On stage: Camilla Semino Favro, Ivan Alovisio, and Olga Rossi.
The performance will have English surtitles, so it can also be enjoyed by an international audience.
On February 15, the customary meeting with the actors at the Event Pavilion of Fondaco dei Tedeschi.
After The Wise Wife, the Carnival program at Teatro Goldoni continues with other events, including:
- Children’s shows, such as Anima Blu, dedicated to Marc Chagall (February 23).
- Monologues, such as Da naso a naso by and with Pietrangelo Buttafuoco. The president of the Venice Biennale, in an unprecedented role, intertwines the stories of Cyrano de Bergerac with those of Pinocchio (February 26).
- The satire of Buffoni all’inferno, the show by Stivalaccio Teatro that closes the programming from February 28 to March 4.
- Parties at the Hard Rock Cafe
Hard Rock Cafe, San Marco 1192
From February 14 to March 4
Music, celebration, and masks at the Hard Rock Cafe, which transforms Bacino Orseolo into a stage of sounds and emotions with The Party’s Just Begun.
It starts under the sign of love: the Valentine’s Day opening night welcomes the audience with an acoustic concert by Giulia Tonini, vocals and guitar. Then, the rhythm picks up with live music, masked parties, karaoke challenges, and DJ sets.
- Casanova and Death at the Scuola Grande San Giovanni Evangelista
Scuola Grande San Giovanni, San Polo 2454 – Spazio Cimitero and Sala Badoer
From February 14 to March 8
Free admission: Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Fat Thursday (February 27) and Shrove Tuesday (March 4), hours 10:00-13:00 / 14:00-18:30
Casanova and Death – or the journey of no return is a Carnival exhibition, an evolving display curated by Eleonora Fuser, with mask-maker sculptor Giorgio De Marchi and the Capitaneria Lagoon Pirates, where the art masks of De Marchi and Lazlo Licata become symbols of passage and transformation. Every afternoon, meetings and special events are scheduled, in addition to four artistic evenings from 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM with music, poetry, and Commedia dell’Arte:
Friday, February 14 // Valentine’s Day
Opening and exhibition inauguration, presentation of the full program, presence of masks, sweet risk of poetic and musical boardings, biribissi, and other ancient games.
Saturday, February 22 // Sabo Mato
First metamorphoses of the evolutionary exhibition, poetic, theatrical, and musical boarding with the Lagoon Pirates, Eleonora Fuser, Giorgio De Marchi, and other artists, video projections of the first days of artistic meetings.
Friday, February 28 // Venere Grasso
Collection of Goldoni texts performed in masks by the students of Eleonora Fuser and Giorgio Bertan from Teatro a l’Avogaria, music by the Lagoon Pirates, video projections of the second week of artistic meetings, second metamorphosis of the evolutionary exhibition.
Saturday, March 8 // International Women’s Rights Day
Conclusion of the evolutionary exhibition – final metamorphosis, Ass. Olivolo – group of women directed by Eleonora Fuser performing scenes drawn from “Goldoni’s Women” with masks by Giorgio De Marchi and musical accompaniment by the Lagoon Pirates, final boarding-concert by the Lagoon Pirates & Cie, projection of cinematic montages of the ephemeral events that occurred during the 24 days of the exhibition’s existence.
- Met Me at Palazzina at Palazzina Grassi
Palazzina Grassi, Ramo Grassi 3247
From February 22 to March 1
Inspired by the MET Gala, Met Me at Palazzina transforms the spaces on the Grand Canal with spectacular sets and themed parties. Four evenings to experience Carnival in a fashion key: February 22 Superheroes, February 27 American Independence, February 28 Anglomania, March 1 Dance. Events are paid. Info and reservations
- The Cutting of the Bull’s Head in St. Mark’s Square
St. Mark’s Square, Thursday, February 27, 6:00 PM
An ancient ceremony commemorates the victory of Doge Vitale Michiel II over Patriarch Ulrico of Aquileia and his twelve rebel feudal lords in 1162. St. Mark’s Square becomes the stage for the reenactment of the Cutting of the Bull’s Head, brought back to the stage by the Compagnia L’Arte dei Mascareri in collaboration with Pantakin Teatro.
In memory of one of the several insurrection attempts that the Serenissima Republic faced in its 1,100-year history, every year the Patriarch’s successors also had to send a bull, 12 loaves of bread, and 12 pigs as a gift and compensation to the sitting Doge. The bull-Patriarch with the 12 Pigs-Feudal Lords were then mocked in the square, with a ritual that culminated in the spectacular cutting of the bull’s head.
- Stefano Nicolao at the Ateneo Veneto
Ateneo Veneto, Campo San Fantin 1897
Friday, February 28, 2025, 6:00 PM
A conversation between journalist Giovanna Pastega, author of the documentary Venetian Portraits: Stefano Nicolao, and Stefano Nicolao, Venetian theater and film costume designer, who virtually opens the doors of his Venetian atelier.
From Madonna to Russell Crowe, from Al Pacino to Jeremy Irons: Venetian costume designer Stefano Nicolao has dressed the biggest Hollywood stars, creating costumes for international film productions such as “The Merchant of Venice,” “Casanova,” “Farinelli,” “Pirates of the Caribbean,” “Elizabeth,” and “Gladiator.” His atelier, which houses over 15,000 costumes and a collection of 250 original period pieces, is one of the most important creative centers of the Venice Carnival.
After the screening, Nicolao will present some of his iconic garments.
- Splendid Venice Hotel
Mercerie, San Marco 760
Friday, February 28, from 6 PM to 10 PM
Tommy Vee returns to the console at the Splendid: the energy of Carnival to the rhythm of house music for the Carnival Glamour Cocktail Aperitif, a special evening with the Venetian DJ, producer, and founder of the Airplane! label Tommy Vee, who has collaborated with artists such as Bob Sinclair and Frankie Knuckles. Dress Code: Carnival Touch
Information and reservations:
Tel. 041 5200755, gr.splendidvenice.ve@starhotels.it
The Civic Museums of Venice for Carnival 2025
During Carnival, the Civic Museums of Venice extend their hours with evening openings:
- From February 27 to March 4, the Doge’s Palace and Correr Museum will be accessible until 10 PM (last entry at 9 PM).
- On February 28 and March 1, the Fortuny Museum, Ca’ Rezzonico, and Ca’ Pesaro open until 9 PM (last entry at 8 PM).
Discover everything on the official MUVE website.
Article by Lucia Pecoraro.
Images courtesy of the Venice Municipality press office.
