Venice Festivals and Events 2026
Venice runs on ritual, and its calendar is full of festivals that are still genuinely local rather than staged for visitors. Time a trip around one and you see the city at its most itself. Here are the events worth planning for, roughly in the order they fall through the year.
Carnevale (late January to February)
The best known is Carnevale, about two and a half weeks of masks, costumes and set-piece events building to Shrove Tuesday, typically running from late January into February (verify the exact 2026 dates on site). Highlights include the Flight of the Angel, when a costumed figure descends into a packed Piazza San Marco, and the Festa delle Marie procession. Book accommodation far ahead, and note this falls outside the spring access-fee window entirely.
Vogalonga (spring)
The Vogalonga is a non-competitive rowing event, usually held around Pentecost, in which thousands of oar-powered boats cover a roughly 30-kilometre loop out through the northern lagoon and back down the Grand Canal. It is a wonderful morning to be near the water, and a reminder that Venice is a rowing city first.
Festa del Redentore (third Sunday of July)
The Redentore gives thanks for the end of a devastating 16th-century plague, and it is Venice’s great summer night. On the Saturday evening a temporary pontoon bridge is floated across the Giudecca Canal to the Redentore church, boats raft up on the water, and a huge fireworks display lights the lagoon around midnight. The third Sunday of July can fall inside the 2026 access-fee dates, so day trippers should check cda.ve.it.
The Biennale and the Film Festival (summer into autumn)
The Venice Biennale, alternating each year between contemporary art and architecture, spreads across the Giardini and the Arsenale in Castello from spring into late November; a single ticket covers both main venues. Overlapping it, the Venice Film Festival (the Mostra) runs on the Lido from late August into early September, one of the oldest and most prestigious festivals in cinema, drawing premieres and crowds to the beach island.
Regata Storica (first Sunday of September)
The Regata Storica opens with a costumed historic pageant of traditional boats down the Grand Canal, followed by a series of races that Venetians take very seriously. It is free to watch from the banks, though a spot on the water or a rented balcony gets you the pageantry up close.
Festa della Salute (21 November)
The Salute is the quieter, more local counterpart to the Redentore: a votive festival marking the end of the 1630 to 1631 plague, with a pontoon bridge laid across the Grand Canal so the city can walk to the Salute church to light a candle. Street stalls sell castradina, a mutton dish eaten only on this day.
Whatever you time it for, the autumn and winter festivals sit outside the access-fee season, so a day trip in those months carries no extra charge.
Read more: plan around the seasons with the Venice travel guide , and see the sights themselves in the things to do guide .