The Love Italy Guide № 012: Carnevale

Sharing is caring!

Before Lent emptied the larders, Italians spent weeks eating, masking and misbehaving — the word carnevale most likely comes from the Latin carnem levare, “to remove meat,” the farewell to richness before forty days of fasting. In Venice the city once licensed its citizens to go masked for months, blurring servant and senator behind the same white bauta. This is Guide № 012 in The Love Italy Guide series.

What Carnevale Actually Marks

Carnevale is the movable season of feasting that ends the day before Lent begins. Its climax is Martedì Grasso (Shrove Tuesday, “Fat Tuesday”), which falls the day before Ash Wednesday; because Easter moves each year, so does Carnevale, with the peak landing on 17 February in 2026. The preceding Thursday, Giovedì Grasso (“Fat Thursday”), is itself a day of celebration, and in many towns the festivities stretch back several weekends earlier.

Milan keeps its own calendar. Because the city follows the Ambrosian rite attributed to Saint Ambrose, its Lent starts later, so the Carnevale Ambrosiano runs on to the Saturday after everyone else’s Ash Wednesday — which is why you can still find confetti and costumes in Milan when Venice has already gone quiet.

Venice: Masks and the Flight of the Angel

A document from 1094 under Doge Vitale Falier is often cited as the first written mention of Carnevale in Venice, and in 1296 the Senate declared the day before Lent a public holiday. For centuries the Republic regulated mask-wearing tightly — masks let people gamble, court and trade across social rank in anonymity, which is exactly why laws limited when they could be worn. The modern festival, run today through Carnevale di Venezia, was revived in 1979 after a long lapse that followed the fall of the Republic in 1797.

The season’s signature moment is the Volo dell’Angelo (“Flight of the Angel”), when a costumed performer descends on a cable from the campanile of St Mark’s into Piazza San Marco, echoing an older acrobatic stunt once called the Volo del Turco. It is paired with the Festa delle Marie, a procession honouring twelve Venetian women. Practical tickets, grandstand seats and water-festival details are published by the city’s official service, Venezia Unica.

The Great Mainland Carnivals

Venice gets the postcards, but some of the most spectacular events are on the mainland. The Carnevale di Viareggio in Tuscany, running since 1873, is built around enormous satirical floats of cartapesta (papier-mâché) that roll along the seafront promenade; its mascot, Burlamacco, was designed by Uberto Bonetti in 1931, and the floats are built year-round at the town’s Cittadella del Carnevale.

In Piedmont, the Storico Carnevale di Ivrea stages the famous Battle of the Oranges, where teams on foot pelt crews riding on carts with tonnes of oranges, reenacting a medieval legend centred on a miller’s daughter named Violetta. In Sardinia, the Sartiglia of Oristano is a costumed equestrian tournament in which masked riders gallop at a suspended star and try to spear its centre with a sword — a solemn, ritual cousin to the confetti-and-float carnivals of the north.

What You Eat During Carnevale

Carnevale food is fried, sweet and unapologetic. The nationwide staple is a ribbon of thin fried dough dusted with sugar, called chiacchiere in much of Italy but also frappe, bugie, cenci or crostoli depending on the region. Alongside them you’ll find castagnole, small fried dough balls, and in Venice the fritole (fritters studded with raisins and pine nuts), long treated as the city’s semi-official Carnevale sweet.

Reading the Masks

The classic Venetian faces each had a purpose. The bauta is the full white mask with a jutting chin that leaves room to eat, drink and speak while disguised, usually worn with a black cloak and tricorn hat. The moretta was a small oval black mask once worn by women and held in place by a button gripped in the teeth, which kept the wearer silent. The long-beaked medico della peste (“plague doctor”) is often sold as an ancient Carnevale mask, but it began as real 17th-century protective gear and only later became a costume. Many other masks are the stock characters of commedia dell’arte — Arlecchino, Pulcinella, Colombina and Pantalone.

Myths Worth Retiring

Myth: Carnevale is a single day. It is a whole season that climaxes on Martedì Grasso; the big carnivals run across several weekends, and Milan’s Ambrosian version finishes days after everyone else’s.

Myth: The plague-doctor mask is an old carnival character. The beaked mask began as practical medical equipment and was absorbed into costume culture much later — it is not one of the original festive masks.

Myth: Venice invented Carnevale and everywhere copies it. Venice has the oldest documented celebration and the best-known masks, but Viareggio, Ivrea, Oristano and others have distinct, independent traditions that owe little to the lagoon.

Frequently Asked Questions

When is Carnevale in 2026?

The season peaks on Martedì Grasso, which falls on 17 February 2026, with the main events spread across the preceding weekends. Milan’s Ambrosian Carnevale continues a few days longer. Always confirm exact dates on each event’s official site, as programmes are published closer to the time.

Do I need to book or buy tickets?

Public street events, processions and float parades are generally free to watch, but grandstand seating, ticketed shows and some Venice events require booking — for Venice through Venezia Unica, and for float carnivals like Viareggio and Ivrea through their own box offices. National and regional programmes are also listed by the official tourism board at Italia.it.

Can anyone wear a mask and costume?

Yes — joining in is the point, and visitors in Venice routinely dress up. Mask and costume shops operate year-round in Venice, and rental is common. Do check local rules for specific events: some ticketed venues and parades have their own guidance on what can be worn or carried.

More The Love Italy Guides

The Love Italy Guide is a numbered series — one tightly focused subject at a time, each with its own downloadable collectible edition. Guide № 001 is Fresh Pasta, Guide № 002 is Ferragosto, Guide № 003 is Espresso, Guide № 004 is Italian Hand Gestures, Guide № 005 is La Passeggiata, Guide № 006 is Limoncello, Guide № 007 is Italian Opera Tradition, Guide № 008 is Murano Glass, Guide № 009 is La Befana, Guide № 010 is Italian Sayings & Proverbs, Guide № 011 is Cornetto e Cappuccino (Italian Breakfast), This is Guide № 012. More editions are on the way.

Sharing is caring!