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Carnival in Venice without tourists, but the magic still operates

2021-02-07T15:13:07.112Z


IN PICTURES - The start of the carnival has been given but Covid version, largely virtual and without the usual crowd of tourists.


On the mythical Piazza San Marco in Venice, plunged into a thick fog, stroll couples disguised as nobles of the Serenissima and costumed children sprayed with confetti.

It's the kick-off of the carnival, but Covid version, largely virtual and without the usual crowd of tourists.

Read also: Carnival of Venice: kick off of the most spectacular of costume parties

It's totally surreal.

What strikes me the most is the silence.

During the carnival, we always heard music, people having fun.

But Venice under the mists, it's still a magical place

, ”said Chiara Ragazzon, 47 years old.

This office worker came with her husband from Jesolo, about fifty kilometers away.

Even though the Veneto has passed into a yellow zone, with a moderate risk of contagion, the inhabitants cannot move outside the Italian region.

A person wears a carnival mask in St. Mark's Square to celebrate Venice's colorful annual carnival, which was canceled this year due to the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19).

SILVESTRI / REUTERS MANUAL

A few steps from Saint Mark's Square, Hamid Seddighi, 63, dressed in a stained painter's blouse, is busy making a carnival mask: he molds it, sculpts it, smoothes it delicately, the movements are fast. , with surgical precision.

A mask maker works in his shop during what would have been Venice's colorful annual carnival, but has been canceled this year due to Covid-19.

SILVESTRI / REUTERS MANUAL

In the workshop of his shop, Ca 'del Sol, masks made of papier-mâché, lace or iron, adorned with Swarovski crystals, have piled up without finding any takers: since the start of the pandemic, his number of business plunged by 70%, for lack of foreign tourists, its main clientele.

I fell in love with masks, I've been doing them for 35 years.

But this is dramatic, I only sold two for the carnival

”, laments the craftsman of Iranian origin, adjusting his black beret.

A few people are walking in Venice disguised and masked.

SILVESTRI / REUTERS MANUAL

Before the pandemic, the carnival brought in around 70 million euros, spent by an average of 567,000 tourists, according to the municipality of Venice.

In front of Saint Mark's Basilica, about thirty masked craftsmen wearing long black capes freeze in silence to "

remind the world that they still exist and resist

".

Venetian artisans wearing masks and carnival costumes take part in a demonstration of the Confederation of Craftsmen of Venice (Confartigianato Venezia) in Saint Mark's Square in Venice on February 7, 2021, as the carnival is canceled due to the pandemic of Covid-19.

MARCO BERTORELLO / AFP

To encourage the inhabitants of the city of the Doges to perpetuate the tradition, the association of artisans of Venice has launched a campaign with discounts on the theme: "

The carnival of the Venetians, masked ... and with the mask

" anti- Covid.

"

Venice is deserted by tourists, it is for the Venetians the opportunity to reappropriate and rediscover their city

", explains its director, Gianni De Checchi.

Over the past 25 years, mass tourism has disrupted the socio-economic fabric of central Venice.

And in a way, he led the carnival astray

”.

"Plague and cholera"

We no longer came with my wife for the carnival, there were too many people.

There it is historic, an empty city

”, testifies Peter, an Austrian doctor of 65 years - one of the rare foreign tourists in Venice.

"

It was time to go, with the pandemic, because they had plague and cholera in the past and it reminds of 'Death in Venice'

", the film by Luchino Visconti.

The municipality of Venice, which had been forced to cut short the carnival festivities when the pandemic broke out last February, this time relies on video clips broadcast online which feature costumed Venetians.

People wearing carnival costumes march through St. Mark's Square in Venice on February 6, 2021, although the carnival has been canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

MARCO BERTORELLO / AFP

It's a way to reinvigorate the bonds that unite us with the millions of people who love Venice,

” explains Tourism Advisor Simone Venturini.

"Having fun in the middle of Covid"

Among these filmed scenes, an improvised minuet on the Rialto Bridge by a group of carnival enthusiasts in baroque costumes.

"

We wanted to show that Venice is not a dead city, that we can have fun even in the midst of Covid

", said one of them, Armando Bala, 42, wearing a Rococo wig and dressed a hand-embroidered red velvet frock coat.

Armando Bala (R), owner of La Bauta Mask and Carnival Laboratory and shop, helps a party girl wear her traditional carnival costume in "La Bauta" boutique in Venice on February 6, 2021. MARCO BERTORELLO / AFP

With his wife Arnisa, he has been managing the La Bauta boutique for over 20 years.

On the stalls, sumptuous period costumes are next to handcrafted masks inspired by characters from the Commedia dell'Arte, such as Harlequin or Columbine.

Carnival contributes around 40% to La Bauta's turnover, and a good part comes from French tourists, big fans of the Venice carnival.

"

We are not trying to make money, we just want to survive,

" says Armando Bala.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2021-02-07

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