Sat
3
Feb 2024
La Festa delle Marie
On Saturday, February 3, 2024, starting from 3:30 PM, will see the water parade of gondolas featuring the 12 girls selected for La Festa delle Marie. The parade will sail along the Grand Canal, from Santa Sofia to Piazza San Marco!
As per tradition, at the end of the water parade, the 12 Maries will be officially presented to the public on the stage at Piazza San Marco, where – at 4:00 PM – the iconic traditional photo will be taken.
The Competition is in collaboration with
Established by the visionary director Bruno Tosi in 1999 and over time becoming one of the pivotal events of the Venice Carnival, the Festa delle Marie recalls a historical fact that really happened. It was the year 973 when in the church of San Pietro di Castello, during the annual celebrations dedicated to the purification of the Virgin Mary, twelve Venetian girls were kidnapped by a group of Dalmatian pirates. After a chase organised by Doge Pietro Candiano III, the girls were freed and taken back to Venice. Since then, the Festa delle Marie has been celebrated every year in the lagoon city in ways and rituals that have changed over the centuries.
