April can be a lovely month to visit Venice. The weather is usually pleasant and Carnivale’s tourist crowds have dispersed, while the summer vacation crowds haven’t started to increase. There are two exceptions: when Easter falls in April, more visitors are expected to Venice. Also, the last week of the month, known as the bridge or bridge between the national holidays of April 25 and May 1, is a time when many Italians take their holidays, so the city tends to fill up then.
You will find many activities in Venice during the month of April. Here are the main festivals, parties and events of the city in April.
Easter and Easter
Tourists, rather than locals, tend to crowd Venice around Easter time. But that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy some lovely competitions, classical music concerts, and Easter services in Venice during Easter. A moving event, the Benedizione del Fuoco , is held on Thursday night of Holy Week at St. Mark’s Basilica. The lights of the cathedral go out and a fire is lit at the entrance and there is a blessing of the four elements.
Visitors may also wish to attend Mass at St. Mark’s Basilica on Easter, but the church will be packed, so be sure to get there early. Read more about Easter traditions in Italy.
Feast of San Marco
April 25 is a busy day on the Venetian calendar. Saint Mark, the patron saint of Venice, is honored on this day with a gondolier regatta, commemorations of the saint in Saint Mark’s Basilica and festivities in Saint Mark’s Square. Tradition also holds that Saint Mark’s Day is the day when men give their wives or girlfriends the “bocolo”, the flower of the red rose. (It is not uncommon for Venetian children to give a single rosebud to their mothers on April 25.) Sometimes a giant red rose is made up of humans dressed in red (or green for the stem) in St. Mark’s Square, which is very beautiful when viewed from above.
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liberation day
Celebrated throughout Italy, April 25 is Liberation Day, or Festa della Liberazione, marking the anniversary of Italy’s liberation at the end of World War II. Many businesses may be closed, but most museums and tourist attractions are usually open.
Opera and classical music throughout the year.
Because so much classical and opera music was written or set in Venice, it is one of the great cities in Europe to see a performance. Venice’s legendary opera, La Fenice, presents performances throughout the year. If you’re not ready to spend € 100 or more on an opera or classical performance, there are less expensive performances at churches and music schools across the city. On the busiest streets of Venice, you will find people in elaborate period costumes trying to sell you tickets to these performances. An evening at one of these concerts can be as charming as a more expensive performance.
Updated from an article originally written by Melanie Renzulli.
