Fireworks and Regattas
The Redentore Regatta along the Giudecca Canal. Photo: Venezia Unica
July 16 - 17
The Festa del Redentore (Feast of the Redeemer) is probably the most spectacular festival in Venice. It is held on the third Sunday of July as a celebration giving thanks for the end of the terrible plague in 1576 which killed 50,000 people, including the great painter Titian.
It was wondered at the time if Venice would survive so the Doge Alvise I Mocenigo promised to build a magnificent church if the plague ended.
Andrea Palladio was commissioned to build the majestic church on the Island of Giudecca.
After the first stone of the Redentore Church was laid, a provisional wooden church was built with a floating walkway to connect the island to Venice.
This floating bridge enabled the Doge and the people to cross over the water to give thanks at the spot where the grand church was to be built.
The Redentore was finally consecrated in 1592, and is one of the most important and spectacular examples of Palladian Rennaisance architecture in the world.
To celebrate the building of this great church and give thanks for the ending of the plague in Venice, every year the Ponte Votivo of the Redentore, a bridge of barges is built across the Giudecca Canal for the two days of festivities.
On the Saturday, the eve of the festival, there is a huge fireworks display with local Venetians watching from their boats in the harbour, restaurants and hotels put on special dinners, charter boats and gondolas take tourists out and everyone crowds along the waterfront to find a spot to be comfortable for the evening.
The day begins early in the morning when people begin to decorate their boats and the small wooden terraces you can see on some rooftops in anticipation of the fireworks.
The votive bridge opens at 7.00pm and at dusk, just as they have for centuries, hundreds of small boats, all decorated with balloons and flowers, head out to St. Mark's Bay and the Giudecca Canal.
The boats then tie up alongside each other and everyone enjoys a dinner of traditional Venetian food while they wait for the fireworks to start at about 11.30pm. The fireworks last for about three quarters of an hour and then a lot of people head to the Lido to sit on the beach and wait for the sunrise.
On Sunday, at about 4.00pm, after a nice sleep in, the Redeemer Regatta is held on the Giudecca Canal.
The children's races start the action and then at 5.30pm the fiercly competitive
twin oared regatta begins.
Wonderful to find a spot with an Aperol Spritz and watch the races go by and then have a nice early night!
The best place to see the Festa del Redentore from, has to be the Gritti Palace.
