Veneto
Venice Carnival 2027: Dates, the Key Days and How to Plan the Trip
The Venice Carnival of 2027 runs from Saturday 23 January to Shrove Tuesday, 9 February. The key days, what is free, trains and where to book a room early.
The Venice Carnival of 2027 runs from Saturday 23 January to Tuesday 9 February.
Those are the official dates, 18 days that end on Shrove Tuesday.
The organisers give them on the official Carnival site, which opened applications for artists and performers on 19 October. The full programme of events comes later, usually in the weeks before the opening. The dates are enough to book trains and rooms, and those are the two things that run out.
Quick answer
Dates: Saturday 23 January to Tuesday 9 February 2027.
Weekends: 23 and 24 January, 30 and 31 January, 6 and 7 February.
Key days: Fat Thursday on 4 February and Shrove Tuesday on 9 February.
Cost: the Carnival in the streets and squares is free. Balls, dinners and some shows are ticketed.
The trap: the last weekend. Book it months ahead or choose the first one.
How the 18 days are built
The Carnival has a simple shape. It opens on a Saturday, builds through two more weekends and ends on Martedi Grasso, the Tuesday before Lent. In 2027 Easter falls on 28 March, which puts Shrove Tuesday on 9 February and the opening on 23 January.
The first weekend is the calmest and the one Venetians keep for themselves, traditionally with a parade on the water. The middle weekend fills the city. The last six days, from Giovedi Grasso on 4 February to the closing Tuesday, are the peak, when the masks are thickest around San Marco and every room in the lagoon is taken.
What to see without a ticket
Most of the Carnival costs nothing. The costumed figures gather in Piazza San Marco and along the waterfront by the Doge's Palace, where they pose for anyone with a camera, and the best hours are early morning and the end of the afternoon, when the light is low and the day-trippers are fewer. The same masks drift through the quieter squares of Castello and Dorsoduro.
The ticketed side is the evening. The official dinner show is held at Ca' Vendramin Calergi, the palace on the Grand Canal that houses the casino, and private balls fill other palaces through the last week. Costumes can be hired from the ateliers of the city, and for the balls they are required.
Trains, boats and the walk in
Venezia Santa Lucia is the station on the island, ten minutes beyond Mestre across the lagoon bridge. Fast trains run from Milan in about two and a half hours, from Florence in a little over two and from Rome in about four. On the busiest days the city has in past years set one-way walking routes between the station and San Marco, and the vaporetto on the Grand Canal is slow and full. Walk.
The day-visitor access fee is a separate matter. In 2026 it applied on set days between April and July, after the Carnival, and the calendar for 2027 has not been published.
Where to stay for the Carnival
On the island, book now. Cannaregio and Castello are within a walk of San Marco and keep some quiet at night. Rooms for the last weekend go first, and prices fall after Shrove Tuesday.
Mestre, on the mainland, is the fallback: ten minutes by train, trains every few minutes, and hotels at a fraction of the island price.
The mistake to avoid
Do not come for one day on the last Sunday. It is among the most crowded days of the Venetian year, the bridges jam, and half the visit goes on queues. Two nights on the first or second weekend show more of the Carnival with less of the crush.
The second mistake is waiting for the programme before booking. By the time the events are announced, the good rooms are gone.
Related guides
Viareggio Carnival 2027: the six parade dates
Ivrea Carnival 2027: the Battle of the Oranges
Venice access fee 2027: all 72 dates
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