venice

Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpe in 1932, the Venice Film Festival is the oldest film festival in the world. Taking place every year in late August of early September on the island of the Lido, the festival is one of the world’s most prestigious and is also part of the Venice biennale, an exhibition and festival for contemporary art. The first “Esposizione d’Arte Cinematografica” was held in 1932 at the Hotel Excelsior as part of the 18th Venice Biennale. The 2010 festival takes place from September 1st – 11th and the official lineup will be announced in Rome at the end of July. The festival’s goal is to raise awareness and promote various aspects of international cinema in all its forms. It includes homages and retrospectives to major figures in the industry that have helped raise awareness. [Read more…] about Venice Film Festival :: Venice, Italy

First recorded in 1296, the Carnival of Venice is an amazingly beautiful celebration that takes place about two weeks before and runs through to Shrove Tuesday (the day before Ash Wednesday). Throughout the ages, the carnival has been canceled and revived multiple times including in 1797 when the Venetian Empire fell to Napoleon as well as in the 1930s when Mussolini banned the festivities. The current reincarnation of the carnival began in 1979 and by 1981-1984 it had hit its stride with hundreds of thousands of visitors attending the event. [Read more…] about Carnival of Venice :: Italy