One of the most colorful events of the year and the most spectacular water event in Venice is the Festa del Redentore festival, which is also called a celebration in honor of the Savior.
The festival is held annually on the third weekend of July and traditionally lasts two days, but various events begin on Friday.
The history of the festival is connected with the terrible plague of the 16th century, which claimed the lives of 50 thousand people. Among the dead was one of the greatest artists of the Renaissance, Titian.
Legend has it that the Doge of Venice, Sebastiano Venier, promised to build a church for the glory of Jesus Christ on the island of Giudecca if the epidemic ended. A year later, the plague left the city, and the Senate decided to consider every third Sunday in July a holiday of the Savior.
In honor of the holiday, a 330-meter bridge made of tied gondolas is being built from the Zattere embankment of the island of Rialto through the Giudecca canal to the entrance to the temple, which is decorated with balls, garlands, and lanterns. The Redentore Church on the island of Giudecca hosts a solemn procession and mass in the Cathedral of the Savior.
On Saturday night, thousands of gondoliers launch garlanded boats, and the rest of the residents decorate the balconies from which they plan to watch the evening fireworks show.
Folk festivities from the central square are gradually moving to the water. Each gondola or pleasure boat hosts an impromptu feast with aromatic white wine, and the festive fun continues until the morning. Townspeople have fun on boats, rafts and ferries allocated for the holiday.
The apogee of the event – fantastic midnight fireworks over the lagoon and Piazza San Marco.
After the light show, noisy fun begins. Music, songs, dancing, wine and cheese tasting in a general atmosphere of fun... This fun holiday gives a lot of impressions to everyone who decides to spend the night on the streets of the city.
On Sunday there is a festive regatta in the Venetian lagoon, and then the fun continues in the beach area of the island of Lido.