Tuscany
Viareggio Carnival 2027: The Six Parade Dates, Start Times and Ticket Prices
Viareggio Carnival 2027 runs from 30 January to 20 February with six parades on the seafront. Dates, start times, ticket prices and the train from Pisa.
Viareggio Carnival 2027 runs from Saturday 30 January to Saturday 20 February, with six parades.
Two of them are on Saturdays. One is on a Thursday evening.
The dates and start times are published by the carnival foundation on its official site, and the parades take place on the seafront, where giant papier-mâché floats circle between the beach and the Liberty-style buildings. Visit Tuscany describes them as the largest in the world.
Quick answer
Dates: 30 January, then 4, 7, 9, 14 and 20 February 2027.
Start times: 15:00 on Sundays and Shrove Tuesday, 16:00 on the two Saturdays, 17:00 on Thursday 4 February.
Tickets: from 16.50 euros for one parade. Children up to 1.20 metres tall enter free.
Season ticket: 40 euros for all six parades if bought by 24 December 2026.
The trap: Sunday 31 January. There is no parade that day.
The six parades
| Date | Start | Parade |
|---|---|---|
| Saturday 30 January | 16:00 | Opening parade, followed by fireworks |
| Thursday 4 February | 17:00 | Night parade for Giovedì Grasso |
| Sunday 7 February | 15:00 | Third parade |
| Tuesday 9 February | 15:00 | Shrove Tuesday parade |
| Sunday 14 February | 15:00 | Fifth parade |
| Saturday 20 February | 16:00 | Closing parade, with the winners announced and fireworks |
The carnival ends eleven days after Shrove Tuesday. That is the Viareggio habit: the last parade falls in Lent, when Venice has already packed away its masks.
Tickets and the season pass
A single ticket is tied to a date chosen at purchase and starts at 16.50 euros. The Thursday night parade is sold at a reduced price. An open ticket, valid for any one parade, costs 25 euros, and children up to 1.20 metres tall enter free.
The season ticket covers all six parades. In presale, until 24 December 2026, it costs 40 euros for adults and 30 euros for under 14s. From 28 December to 30 January the price rises to 50 and 40 euros. The figures are on the foundation's ticket page.
Seats in the stands are extra. Packages with a place in the grandstand start at 25 euros, and the Gold package, with a numbered seat in the central stand on Piazza Mazzini and a fast lane at the gate, starts at 70 euros.
How the afternoon works
The floats do not pass once. They circle the seafront avenues for the whole parade, on a circuit of a little over three kilometres, so every spot along the route sees every float several times. Most people walk. A ticket gives access to the circuit, and the crowd moves inside it among the masked groups and the smaller floats.
The big floats are judged, and the winners are announced at the closing parade on 20 February. They are built in the Cittadella del Carnevale, the complex of hangars north of the centre, which also houses the carnival museum.
Reaching Viareggio by train
Viareggio is on the coastal railway north of Pisa, and a second line arrives from Florence through Lucca. Regional trains from Pisa Centrale take about 20 minutes. From Florence allow about an hour and a half. The seafront is a walk of around 15 minutes from the station.
On parade days the roads into town are slow and parking near the circuit is scarce. The train is the easy way in.
Viareggio, Lucca or Pisa
Hotels on the Viareggio seafront put the parade under the window, and they are the first to fill for the Sundays. Lucca, less than half an hour away by train, is the quieter choice and a city worth the evening. Pisa works for a single afternoon.
The mistake to avoid
Do not arrive at the start time. Buy the ticket online, because the desks at the gates have queues, and be inside the circuit an hour early for a place at the barriers.
The second mistake is to pick the date by habit. The opening is on a Saturday, and the Thursday parade runs after dark. Both end late for anyone with a train to catch.
Related guides
Venice Carnival 2027: the dates
Planning a trip like this?
Send us your brief and we will help you get the bases, timing and route right.
• More from the Magazine
Italy Travel PlanningItaly Carnival 2027: The Dates of Six Big Carnivals, From Venice to PutignanoShrove Tuesday falls on 9 February 2027. The dates of six big Italian carnivals, from Venice and Viareggio to Ivrea, Fano, Putignano and the Sartiglia.
Italy Travel PlanningItaly Strike 20 November 2026: Trains and Flights Run, Rail Stops on SaturdayTrains and flights are excluded from Italy's general strike on 20 November 2026, but a rail strike runs from 21:00 that Friday to 20:00 Saturday. What to know.
Italy Travel PlanningItaly Public Holidays 2027: All 13 Dates, the Long Weekends and What ClosesItaly has 13 national holidays in 2027, and Saint Francis on 4 October is a weekday off for the first time. Every date, the long weekends and what closes.