Italy Travel Planning
Italy Carnival 2027: The Dates of Six Big Carnivals, From Venice to Putignano
Shrove Tuesday falls on 9 February 2027. The dates of six big Italian carnivals, from Venice and Viareggio to Ivrea, Fano, Putignano and the Sartiglia.
Carnival 2027 ends on Shrove Tuesday, 9 February, early in the year.
Easter falls on 28 March, so Ash Wednesday is on 10 February and the big parades are packed into the last three weeks of January and the first half of February. Six of Italy's best-known carnivals have published their 2027 dates. Most of them meet on the same Sunday.
Quick answer
Shrove Tuesday: 9 February 2027.
Venice: 23 January to 9 February.
Viareggio: parades on 30 January and 4, 7, 9, 14 and 20 February.
Ivrea: the Battle of the Oranges on 7, 8 and 9 February, from 14:00.
Putignano: parades on 31 January and 7, 9 and 13 February.
Fano: parades on 31 January and 7 and 14 February.
Sartiglia, Oristano: 7 and 9 February.
The six carnivals at a glance
| Carnival | Region | 2027 dates | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|
| Venice | Veneto | 23 Jan to 9 Feb | Masks, palace balls and events across the city |
| Viareggio | Tuscany | 30 Jan; 4, 7, 9, 14, 20 Feb | Giant papier-mâché floats on the seafront |
| Ivrea | Piedmont | 7, 8, 9 Feb | The Battle of the Oranges in five squares |
| Putignano | Puglia | 31 Jan; 7, 9, 13 Feb | Floats, with a season that opens on 26 December |
| Fano | Marche | 31 Jan; 7, 14 Feb | Floats that throw sweets to the crowd |
| Sartiglia | Sardinia | 7, 9 Feb | A horseback joust at a hanging star in Oristano |
Sunday 7 February, the day of five carnivals
Five of the six run on the same Sunday. Viareggio, Putignano and Fano all parade on 7 February, Ivrea opens its three days of battle and Oristano holds the first of its two Sartiglia days. Venice is in its final week. Expect that weekend to be the busiest of the season for trains and hotels in every one of these towns.
Tuesday 9 February is the other peak. It is the last day in Venice, the third day of oranges in Ivrea, the second Sartiglia and a parade in both Viareggio, in the afternoon, and Putignano, in the evening.
Parades after Ash Wednesday
Three carnivals keep going into Lent. Putignano holds its last parade on Saturday 13 February. Fano closes on Sunday 14 February, a date its organisers fixed early, as Il Resto del Carlino reported when the call for new floats opened in July. Viareggio adds two more dates after Shrove Tuesday, Sunday 14 and Saturday 20 February.
These late dates are the quieter ones, with the same floats and fewer people.
The Sartiglia, the one on horseback
The Sartiglia is not a parade. In Oristano, riders in masks gallop under the cathedral and try to spear a star hanging over the course, led by the Componidori, the figure chosen by the guilds for each day. It is held on the last Sunday of Carnival and on Shrove Tuesday, which in 2026 meant 15 and 17 February, as Sardegna Turismo listed. In 2027 that puts it on 7 and 9 February.
The mistake to avoid
Do not try to fit more than two into one trip. Venice and Ivrea are the only realistic pair, four to five hours apart by train with a change in Milan or Turin. The others are at opposite ends of the country, and on the peak Sunday the regional trains into the carnival towns fill up.
Related guides
Venice Carnival 2027: the dates
Viareggio Carnival 2027: the six parades
Ivrea Carnival 2027: the Battle of the Oranges
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