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.
Numerous are the prizes that will go to the Maria dell’anno, who will be elected on 13 February in the Sale Apollinee of the Teatro La Fenice together with the one of Il Gazzettino, chosen according to the preferences expressed by the readers of the newspaper!
If you are a girl between 18 and 28 years old, resident in Venice in the territory of the Metropolitan City or you were born in Venice even if resident in National Territory buy the Gazzettino (edition of Venice-Mestre), do not miss the opportunity to become one of the 12 Marie of Venice Carnival 2023. The date and how to enter will be announced shortly!
Last year the title of “Maria dell’anno 2023” was won by Beatrice Raffael, 23 years old from Venice, a graduate in European Language and Literature at Ca’ Foscari University, who studies ballet and is enrolled in a tailoring school.
The competition is in collaboration with
Let’s relive together the exciting water parade of the 12 Marie along Venice’s Grand Canal in a Gondola, on Saturday 11 February 2023
