Venice Festival | Festa del Redentore 2010
May 18, 2009 by Helen Page
Filed under Sightseeing
Festa del Redentore July 17-18
Venice's Iconic Gondolas
On the third Saturday in July, the already busy lagoons of Venice burst into a hive of activity. Fleets of boats and gondolas decorated with colourful balloons, lanterns and streamers gather in the canal in front of Piazza San Marco. Venice celebrates the Festa del Redentore (Feast of the Redemption), one of its most treasured festivals in Venice’s calender of events.
The build-up to the festivities begins on Saturday with the assembly of a “bridge of boats” made from gondolas lined together across the lagoon from Zattere to Giudecca. This is Venice’s modern-day adaptation of a vow that was made in 1576.
In the boats people eat traditional foods and wait patiently for the firework display. The big spectacle begins at 11.30 pm when the huge display of fireworks explodes across the skies, illuminating the entire city, and lasting until after midnight. St. Mark’s Square and its historical landmark buildings take on a multi-coloured hue as each explosion of fireworks lights the skies.
This spectacular firework display is a huge tourist attraction and a free Venice event for all to enjoy. You can bring your bottle of vino and food and join the locals in this celebration.
Festa del Redentore’s historical backdrop
Behind this colourful celebration, there is a grim historical event. The plague in Europe spread through the city, causing terrible loss of lives in the three years from 1575 and 1577. The high density of the population made the situation worse and almost 50,000 died, which was more than a third of the city’s inhabitants.
On September 4, 1576, the Senate decided that the Doge should announce the Vow to erect a church dedicated to the Redentore (Redeemer), in return for help in ending the plague. They also promised to make a procession to the church on the third weekend of July.
The religious part of the Redentore takes place on Sunday the 18th. Holy Mass is held in the presence of the Patriarch, followed by a religious procession.
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