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Venice Reveals It's Feminine Side During The 2011 Carnival

Venice Carnival ~ Carnevale di Venezia, Italiana 2010 (Italy)

I love Venice, fin de siecle parties and sophisticated dresses, and this year's Venice Carnival is all about that. The 2011 theme is “Ottocento– da Senso a Sissi, la città delle donne”, a tribute to women and to the Unification of Italy. The festivities will last one week longer than in the past years, from February 19th to March 8th, calling back to the post romantic era of Risorgimento.

It's been 150 year since the Austrian soldiers left Italy back to its people and like magic, this year Mardi Gras coincides with March 8th, the Women’s Day. This calls to a double celebration and Venice reveals itself with all its feminine sensuality calling back to famous nineteenth century heroines. The references in the theme title are to the cinema masterpiece of 1954 “Senso” by Luchino Visconti, a movie about the Italian-Austrian war and the unification of Italy, and to Princess Sissi, icon of fashion and elegance in the XIX century. Now I don't really get it how Princess Sissi (Empress of Austria) got to be celebrated at the same party with the eliberation from Austrian rule, but hey, it's their carnival; they can do whatever they want!

Refined dresses, delicate masks, corsets and crinolines will be the high-end of the carnival and the contest for the best masked costume will have two categories, the general and the best 19th century-style mask. The beautiful Venetian churches will stay open till late night for songs and music concerts, theatre pieces, historical re-enactments, grand balls and film shows will be performed and private masquerades inside Venice's magnificent palaces will be held. The event will have strong cultural connotations and will end with a silent regatta of row boats along Canal Grande, illuminated only with candles. It's a fairy tale world! Just think about being able to cuddled in an aura of divine Italian food and let you imagination work it out from there.

Photos: Flickr user anja_johnson

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