On Saturday, 15th and Sunday, 16th July the tradition illuminates St. Mark’s Basin: in Venice there will be in fact the historic href=”https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festa_del_Redentore”>Redentore Feast.
Among the most deeply felt celebrations by the Venetians, it is also followed by visitors who are in the lagoon city and those who decide to come from the nearby towns to take part to an event in which the religious aspect mixes with the spectacular one.
This is the program:
Saturday 15:
- 7 pm opening of the Thanksgiving Bridge connecting the Zattere (area of Venice situated in the southern part of the archipelago) with the Church of the Redentore on the Giudecca Island and presentation of the rowers teams of the regattas scheduled for the following day.
- 30 pm fireworks show in the St. Mark Basin.
Sunday 16:
- 4 pm Regate del Redentore (Redeemer’s regattas) along the Giudecca canal
- 7 pm votive Holy Mass at the Church that gives the name to the Feast.
But that’s not all: from Wednesday 12 to Tuesday 18 numerous are the collateral events both in the city and in the neighboring towns with concerts, parties and sporting events.
The Redentore Feast originated in July 1577 at the end of a serious pestilence that struck the lagoon. People then decided to celebrate, on an annual basis, the liberation from the epidemic by setting up a thanksgiving bridge in connection with the Chiesa del Redentore. Built on the previous year, the Church had to represent an ex voto to free the population from this tragic pandemic.
For those who are in Bibione during this period, there are various ways to reach Venice even only for the day, to attend a celebration with historical implications, which keeps up to the present day its entire splendor.