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.
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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.
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