Revellers are flocking to Venice for two weeks of parties, fancy dress and light shows, after the city’s famed Carnival festivities kicked off on Saturday.
Spectators lined the Rio di Cannaregio, one of Venice’s most famous canals, as “elaborately decorated boats, accompanied by music, made their way down the waterway” this weekend, reports Reuters.
This year’s theme is Blame the Moon, a reference to both the 50th anniversary of man walking on the Moon and to Shakespeare’s play Othello, in which the heavenly body is blamed for driving men insane.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The carnival is continuing with events across Venice and on the surrounding islands, and culminates with a “most beautiful mask” competition that will be judged on 3 March, says news site The Local.
The world-famous festival is believed to date back to 1162, when residents of the city spontaneously gathered to celebrate a military victory in Saint Mark’s Square, now one of the city’s most famed tourist destinations.
It became an official event during the Renaissance, with the masks “allowing revellers to forget everyday worries and the city’s rigidly hierarchical class system, and indulge for the carnival period”, the site adds.
-
How Tesla has put Elon Musk on track to be the world’s first trillionaireIn The Spotlight The package agreed by the Tesla board outlines several key milestones over a 10-year period
-
Cop30: is the UN climate summit over before it begins?Today’s Big Question Trump administration will not send any high-level representatives, while most nations failed to submit updated plans for cutting greenhouse gas emissions
-
‘The Big Crunch’: why science is divided over the future of the universeThe Explainer New study upends the prevailing theory about dark matter and says it is weakening
-
Nigeria confused by Trump invasion threatSpeed Read Trump has claimed the country is persecuting Christians
-
Sanae Takaichi: Japan’s Iron Lady set to be the country’s first woman prime ministerIn the Spotlight Takaichi is a member of Japan’s conservative, nationalist Liberal Democratic Party
-
Russia is ‘helping China’ prepare for an invasion of TaiwanIn the Spotlight Russia is reportedly allowing China access to military training
-
Interpol arrests hundreds in Africa-wide sextortion crackdownIN THE SPOTLIGHT A series of stings disrupts major cybercrime operations as law enforcement estimates millions in losses from schemes designed to prey on lonely users
-
China is silently expanding its influence in American citiesUnder the Radar New York City and San Francisco, among others, have reportedly been targeted
-
How China uses 'dark fleets' to circumvent trade sanctionsThe Explainer The fleets are used to smuggle goods like oil and fish
-
One year after mass protests, why are Kenyans taking to the streets again?today's big question More than 60 protesters died during demonstrations in 2024
-
What happens if tensions between India and Pakistan boil over?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION As the two nuclear-armed neighbors rattle their sabers in the wake of a terrorist attack on the contested Kashmir region, experts worry that the worst might be yet to come
