The Original Venice Spectacular
'Venice Carnival The Show' with dinner

Celebrate Being Venetian for an Evening with this Live Performance and Gourmet Buffet

This is the perfect way to end your Glorious Day in Venice with a traditional stand up buffet of Venetian inspired gourmet treats and sparkling white regional wine followed by  the most advanced and creative production ever made celebrating magnificent Venice. This very special performance will keep you enthralled with a kaleidoscope of live performers and stunning interactive media effects.  Experience the thrill of being fully immersed in the grand story of Venice with the fascinating scandals, dramas and mysteries that have helped make Venice one of the world’s most unique cities.

We have a special exclusive aggreement with 'Venice Carnival The Show' to give our clients a special discount not available to the public when you book our Venice in One Glorious Day Package. See the details below

Venice Carnival Show - The Food: A Modern Twist

( Unlimited food and wine is included in the price of the ticket )

Even the food is an authentic Venetian experience created to reflect the exuberance of Carnival itself - a riot of color and fun... ... a modern twist on traditional Venetian street food from the past 500 years.

An all you can eat feast of traditional hot and cold finger food …

This pre-show food is made from the finest of Italian ingredients made with all the care, attention to detail and beauty that you would expect from one of the worlds most exquisite and creative cities. As you arrive you will be welcomed as our honored guest. Here you will mingle and soak up the mood of Carnival. Costumed characters will present you with countless trays of Venetian delicacies - all dishes of authentic hot and cold finger-food from Venice's culinary past... By the time we usher you into the auditorium you will have sampled many authentic historical Venetian dishes - you will have had a full and delicious meal and perhaps even be feeling a little light-headed from our exquisite wines...

Vegetarians Welcome

Typical Venetian food? Eating out, Venice-style:

Unlimited Food - with free drink

Here in Venice, thanks to an ancient tradition of well over a thousand years, they continue to be called “cichéti”. But what are they? Let’s discover together…

To begin with “cichéti” are portions of food to be eaten with your hands. This way of eating quickly met the need to continue doing business without interrupting one’s activities for a long meal break.

In a city that owes its greatness to commerce, in the Rialto banking district and near the warehouses where goods from all across the known world were traded, the cichéti stalls offered to busy businessmen and merchants, not only an abundance of delicacies from the Venetian gastronomic tradition but also novelties coming from all over the Mediterranean region and faraway lands.

Venice traded with the whole world, its ships sailed every sea... and so we have baccalà (the stockfish from Scandinavia), curry from India... as well as rare spices from the Orient. In Venice there once were the FONDACO, that is, large warehouses owned by the countries with which Venice conducted its commerce. A FONDACO was a full-blown commercial centre where the merchants from a certain country would find rooms to sleep, offices in which to base themselves, interpreters, and warehouses to store their merchandise, etc.

Inevitably, the culture of those countries had a significant influence on the food of this marvellous city, and this is why cichéti are part of the culture of Venice. Eating like this was a practical and fast way to taste familiar food, as well as new and exotic delicacies, with an abundance of vegetables from the islands of the Lagoon; and each titbit was always accompanied by wine from Veneto and nearby Friuli.

Today we are presenting to you a selection of tasty and original cichéti, so that - for a few moments - you too can imagine being a Venetian merchant, like the famous Marco Polo, occupied on a typical business day between textiles from Ormuz, silks from China, spices from Lebanon, oil from Spain, and, of course, a visit to your bank!

Welcome and bon appetite...

Our Savoury Dishes

(Photographs of food and menu are for illustrative purposes only, and the management reserve the right to change the menu and presentation at any time.)

SALMON SALAD GARNISHED WITH WILD FENNEL AND ORANGE

Salmon reached Venice still fresh thanks to the regular naval connections between the Serenissima Republic and Rotterdam, in the North Sea, established already in the 14th century. By stopping in Sicily, oranges were loaded on board; in Northern Italy they were considered a rare thing to be sold with excellent gains.

MEAT NEST ON THYME PERFUMED MISTICANZA SALAD
Venetians usually say “Nothing grows in Venice but everything can be found here”, also the finest meats that they cured and preserved with the spices imported from the Far East and Africa. Venetians used to combine them with the wide choice of very fresh vegetables coming from the neighbouring islands.

GAZPACHO
In 1500 the trades between Venice and Spain were very frequent and soon tomatoes arrived in Venice, a curiosity coming from America which had recently been discovered by Christopher Columbus, a native of Genoa, in command of a Spanish fleet. For a long time Europeans felt undecided on whether the tomato was a fruit, a vegetable or just a coloured ornament. Venetians learnt from the Spanish that it was also ideal for the preparation of a cold dish for the hot summer days.

BEAN SOUP
Only a few things are more Venetian than a bean soup. There was a time when beans were called “the meat of the poor” for their high-protein and vitamin value, and everyday in the Venetians’ houses beans and vegetables boiled in a large saucepan turning into a delightful dish. The workers of the Arsenale (called Arsenalotti) enjoyed a piping hot dish of bean soup in the winter while dipping a slice of bread in it, or loved the bean soup just at room temperature on the summer days.

ARANCINO DI RISO – Fried rice balls
In the Middle Ages rice was not a typical product of the lagoon nor a traditional dish of the Veneto region. However every town in the Mediterranean used it abundantly. It was the sailors of the Venetian trading ships who learned from Sicilians how to prepare this simple delicious recipe, a legacy of the famous Arabic cooking, called 'arancini' that means 'small oranges', from the most well-known fruit in Sicily.

LASAGNA
The superb meals of the noble Venetian families of the 18th century would not be so appealing without Lasagna, a dish rich in flavours and ingredients that had been imported from the neighbouring country Emilia. People soon learnt how to prepare Lasagna also by simply using the vegetables from the islands or with fish instead of meat, at that times considered an expensive food – as preserve of the rich.

PEARL BARLEY
Using pearl barley in cooking is a legacy coming from the great trades conducted with the Serenissima Republic, Africa and the Middle East.Arabs. Since the first Crusades, Venetians had learnt how to prepare pearl barley, considering it an exotic food just for refined palates.

CAPRESE BROCHETTES IN SWEET AND SOUR SAUCE
Mozzarella, a typical product of Naples and the South of Italy, used to travel by sea, especially in the winter when storing it was easier. It reached the dining tables of the Northern nobility still fresh from Puglia. To their delight, a product considered very expensive and rare was ready to be offered to, and tasted by their guests.

BACCALA’ MANTECATO SERVED ON CRUNCHY POLENTA
No one in Italy and in the Mediterranean knew the stockfish before the Venetians in 1200 started to import it from Northern Europe naming it baccalà. It was a wonderful product as it was not expensive at all and could be perfectly stored during the long sailing periods. In Venice a variety of innovative ways to cook it where devised, so good that the producers themselves got envious!

MEAT BALL WITH CHEESE FONDUE
The very popular meat ball was just too perfect. No on could resist having something hot and filling to taste at a good price, while working. Also today many Venetian osterie offer a meat ball, sometimes enriched by a bit of cheese, to those working in the calli or canals of the city, always accompanying it with the ever-present glass of good wine.

HARDBOILED EGG WITH ANCHOVY AND PICKLED ONION
Another Venetian classic dish is the half hardboiled egg with anchovy, sweet and sour pickled onion and a drizzle of oil. Every Venetian loves this dish that begs for a good glass of white wine. Chitchatting at the osteria (wine bar) would not be the same without a half hardboiled egg and a sip of wine (meso vovo e n’ombra de bianco!).

SALMON CANAPE’ AND ASPARAGUS SAUCE
Salmon came from Northern Europe on the same ships as the stockfish. It was expensive and so it was reserved for noble tables and offered during gala meals. This is another product coming from afar, but it was served with the vegetables of the lagoon, such as the very delicate asparagus of the islands.

THE DESSERTS

BURANELLI (typical biscuits)
The Burano Island is well-known for its lace and for its sweet biscuits that are never missing on the Venetians’ tables during both religious and great popular celebrations. Dipping a buranello in a glass of wine is always the perfect way of ending a good lunch.

NATURAL YOGHURT WITH RASPBERRIES
Milk could not be preserved for long, so Venetians learnt to appreciate its derivative, yoghurt. Some berries would then lend a dash of colour and flavour to this dessert prepared for the most refined ladies and gentlemen.

SGROPPINO (Lemon Sorbet with Vodka and Sparkling Wine)
During their superb (and very long) meals, for the Venetian nobility a “break for the palate” was necessary, so Venetians created the sgroppino, a lemon sorbet shake with prosecco (sparkling wine), ideal for relishing the following course with a renewed enthusiasm.

FRIED CREAM
Fried cream, crema fritta, is an exclusive Venetian delight, absolutely absent from any other Italian culinary tradition. Every child in Venice knows crema fritta, even if nowadays - unfortunately - this traditional dessert, ever present during Carnival period, is slowly being put aside. Take this chance to spoil yourself with a dessert you may not find anywhere else, and that maybe we as well may no longer be able to find.

THE WINES

Wine is the absolute centre of Venetians’ life, in all its aspects. Toasting with some good wine is essential both for business and for getting together… there are just a few things that can be considered unhappier than a wine-less gathering.

In this city, as well as in the whole Veneto region, wine consumption is five times more the national average, thus giving a great contribution to the well-known and typical Venetian good mood and sense of humour!

The wines reached the city coming from the Serenissima’s vineyards, with a preponderance of white wine that was considered the best match for the typical fish dishes of the Venetian cuisine. Nonetheless red wine, considered more “robust”, was loved by Venetians who used to buy it in the stalls of the city.

In Venice, a glass of wine is called “ombra” (shade – or shadow). Its curious name is given by the fact that once in Saint Mark's Square there were street vendors selling wine who would place their stalls under the shadow of Saint Mark's bell tower. As the sun slowly moved… they moved their stalls too, following the shade of the remarkable bell tower protecting their wine… So it became common to call the glass of wine sold by these street vendors an ombra.

Still today in any bar or osteria in Venice you can hear people ordering an ombra of white or red wine. We can however say that for the Venetians the most popular wine is prosecco, a dry sparkling white wine typical of the nearby Treviso area. A glass of cold Prosecco is perfect as an aperitif or with a dessert, but especially to accompany the whole meal. It is also ideal to prepare famous drinks such as the Bellini Cocktail.

This evening you will enjoy both Prosecco and Pinot, a white wine, dry but delicate. And don’t miss the chance to savour Cabernet, a red wine featuring an intense herbal perfume and dry taste.

DRINKS
Prosecco, Wine house San Martino di Valdobiadene.
Pinot white wine, Wine house: San Martino di Valdobiadene.
Cabernet red wine, Wine house: San Martino di Valdobiadene.
Mineral water
Soft drinks

Venice Carnival - The Show

Celebrating the Story of Venice

Award-Winning Talent

International award-winning writer/director, Anthony Wilkinson, and Andrew Empson, Producer/designer of many hit shows on London’s West End (An Inspector Calls, The Woman in Black, Amadeus).

The Story

more pictures from the show

It's 1913 - a family of mask makers and costumiers are preparing for the last of the grand Carnival masquerades. It will be the end of an era. Their client, the incredible Marchesa Luisa Casati, known for her exotic wild animals, extravagant life style, and highly revealing costumes.

As they handle costumes collected over the centuries they re-live the story of Venice: islands of refuge in a salty lagoon - the pious theft of the body of St. Mark - the boom of the merchant empire - the triumphant battle of Lepanto - the birth of Carnival itself - Casanova's daring escape - the city of masks - gambling and amorous liaisons...

...it will move you, captivate you…and make you laugh.

Dazzling Stage Entertainment

more pictures from the show

As the fantasy grows, live and filmed actors combine with the world's most advanced digital projection, lighting, and surround-sound techniques to present an exhilarating entertainment bringing to life famous personalities associated with Venice...

Be transported to the worlds of Marco Polo, Casanova, Vivaldi and Lord Byron: step into the colourful Carnival party atmosphere of Harlequin, Punch and Columbine.

A swirling, sensory, all-enveloping series of stories where the atmosphere of Venice at times literally spins around and over you in a vibrant and colourful series of projection sequences.

At the end of the show, as you emerge again into the Venice evening you marvel at this majestic city with a new spring in your step and with new eyes, having had the chance to live – if for just a while - in the fantastic world of the Venice Carnival Experience...

See the timeline of the historical events of Venice

The Tradition of Carnival and Masks

more pictures from the show

Carnival celebrations in Venice date back as far as 1162. Leading up to the time of Lent all rich foods, such as eggs and meat, needed to be disposed of. What better excuse than to have a celebration feast to use it all up! And so was born the tradition of ‘Carn-ivale’ - the literal translation: ‘Carni’ – Meat; ‘Vale’ – Farewell..

The show is set just before the ravages of two world-wars, fascism, and the onset of mass-tourism turn Carnival into a pale reflection of this glorious 900-year-old tradition. A tradition that has literally shaped the very face and character of the City itself.

In the usually conservative society of Venice, Carnival was an excuse to break-free of these stifling constraints. The mask, that has become the icon of Carnival, was used to preserve anonymity and provide a perfect excuse to behave with abandon...

more pictures from the show

In fact, the mask was such a potent a symbol of free-license that it was strictly forbidden to wear it outside of Carnival-time. So serious an offence was it that the penalty was: for men, 2 years in prison, and 18 months rowing in the galleys; and for women - to be whipped from San Marco to the Rialto, and banishment for 4 years.

Masks were also a great leveler: they permitted nobility to mix freely with commoners; for people to discover what was being said about them; and opportunities for the inhibited to emerge from their shells. It also afforded perfect cover for spies to do their masters’ bidding, providing fertile ground for plotting and conspiracies to blossom …

Carnival has inspired countless generations of artists and writers and has drawn towering figures from History to this great city. Its spirit lives on – to this day Carnival is still a time of riotous excess, frivolity and fun..."

Venice - The Timeline

• 401 Goths invade the Veneto, leading to earliest settlement of the lagoon islands
• 421 Venice founded (conveniently on St Mark’s Day, April 25)
• 552 Further Visigoth invasions
• 570 Start of sustained Lombard invasions of Northern Italy
• Mass migration to lagoon islands
• 697 First Doge elected
• 828 Venetian merchants Bonus and Rusticus steal body of St Mark from church in Alexandria. St Mark’s dream invented to justify the ‘pious theft’
• 832 First Basilica of San Marco completed
• c965 Twelve Brides rescued from Adriatic pirates. Traditional Festival of the Poor Maries begins
• 1095 Venice provides ships and supplies for First Crusade
• 1128 First street lighting in Venice
• 1162 Start of Carnival tradition when Patriarch of Aquileia released on ransom of one bull and twelve pigs ever year before Lent
• 1202 Venice uses 4th Crusade to conquer Byzantium
• 1294 Fall of Constantinople to Venetians who plunder the Four Bronze Horses
• 1268 First mention of fancy dress and masks during Carnival. First of many Carnival regulations
• 1271-1295 Marco Polo’s journeys to China
• 1309 Present Doge’s Palace begun
• 1310 Venetian Constitution passed. Council of Ten formed
• 1325 Ruling families of Venice inscribed in the Golden Book
• 1348-9 Black Death kills half the population of Venice
• 1453 Constantinople falls to the Turks
• 1489 Venice adds Cyprus to its colonies
• 1492 Discover y of America leads to gradual change in focus of world trade
• 1527 Pietro Aretino (1492-1556) - influential author, poet, playwright, satirist, and ‘Scourge of Princes’ - settles permanently in Venice
• 1570 Cyprus lost to Venice
• 1571 Battle of Lepanto. Victor y celebrated by candles and Carnival excess
• 1604 William Shakespeare writes his play Othello (The Merchant of Venice in 1594)
• 1630 Plague decimates Venice population which falls to 102,000
• 1701 Playwright Carlo Goldoni born (d 1793)
• 1703 Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) begins long association as Musical Director of La Pietta
• 1718 End of Venetian maritime Empire
• 1755 Giacomo Casanova (1725-98) escapes from the Piombi Prisons
• 1762 Baldassarre Galuppi (1706-85) appointed to Venice’s highest musical position as Maestro di Cappella at San Marco
• 1797 Napoleon invades the Veneto. Doge Manin abdicates. End of La Serenissima Republic
• 1818 Lord Byron (1783-1824) swims the Grand Canal
• 1829 Violinist Niccolo Paganini (1782-1840) composes his Venice Carnival Variations, and performs nightly in the cemeter y
• 1883 Richard Wagner (b 1813) dies in Palazzo Vendramin-Calergi. Composed much of his opera Tristan und Isolde in Venice 1858-9
• 1889 Poet Robert Browning (b 1812) dies in Ca’ Rezzonico.  His poem ‘A Toccata of Galuppi’s’ published in 1855
• 1913 Marchesa Luisa Casati (1881-1957) gives her most lavish masquerade, the Grande Ballo Pietro Longhi in Piazza San Marco