CARNIVAL-VENICE/BOAT PARADE Venice Carnival afloat for 2015 with first full day of revelry

Record ID: 451008

  • Title: CARNIVAL-VENICE/BOAT PARADE Venice Carnival afloat for 2015 with first full day of revelry
  • Date: 1st February 2015
  • Summary: PEOPLE TAKING PHOTOS OF PARADE WITH MOBILE PHONES BOAT PARADE MOVING ALONG CANAL
  • Embargoed: 16th February 2015 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Italy
  • Country: Italy
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA6F19EQUVCONNB9A0EY8UI9YQA
  • Story Text: Venetians were cloaked, masked and robed in style for the first full day of the Venice Carnival on Sunday (February 1) as they rowed their way along the canals followed by crowds of curious onlookers.
    A freezing winter chill and grey skies didn't deter cheerful, masked revellers as the lagoon city's annual carnival got underway in earnest with the traditional first day boat parade.
    Scores of boats representing different organisations and affiliations made their way to the fabled district of Cannaregio cheered on by visitors on bridges and piers.
    "It's fantastic. I've never seen anything like this before, all these people here. We've been to carnival later, in the weeks later but never at the beginning like this so it's fantastic," said tourist Susan Beckley from Leeds, United Kingdom.
    The Venice Carnival is world famous - it always takes place during the ten days leading up to Lent.
    Carnival, being a pre-Lent festival, means 'farewell to meat' and is celebrated throughout Italy. It was first held in Venice in the 11th century and consisted of over two months of revelry, until it fell into decline during the 18th century. It was revived in 1979 with great success and nowadays it is a great excuse to don a mask and costume, parade around the city and enjoy the live music in the main squares of the city.
    Visitors come from all over the world to visit Venice during this period. Indeed, local man Claudio Rosan lamented that the carnival had turned from a local celebration into a commercial event targeting foreigners over the years.
    "It's become very commercial and now the Venetian elements, the social side of the carnival doesn't exist anymore, it's all just commercial now. That is my opinion. All the Venetians have left the city, there are no Venetians here," Rosan said.
    The 2015 edition, which is running with the theme "The Most Delicious Feast in the World", will celebrate Italy's culinary traditions and triumphs organisers said ahead of the festivities.
    This year's carnival runs until February 17.
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