# Venice Carnival: a date that follows Easter

> Carnival ends on Shrove Tuesday, 47 days before Easter, so it moves yearly. First recorded in 1094, stopped in 1797, revived in 1979. No access fee now.

URL: https://myitalia.it/events/carnevale-di-venezia
Last updated: 2026-09-11

Venice Carnival has no fixed date: it fills the days before Lent and ends on Shrove Tuesday, 47 days before Easter, and the modern edition is organized by the Comune di Venezia with city associations.

## Shrove Tuesday sets the calendar

Carnival's last day is Shrove Tuesday, Martedì Grasso in Italian, which falls 47 days before Easter Sunday. Easter moves, so the whole Carnival moves with it, and the same week can be empty one year and packed the next.

The next edition's dates are not on a page we could read yet. We'll add them here when the Comune di Venezia publishes the program, and until then any exact date you see for 2027 is somebody's guess.

## Recorded in 1094, silent from 1797 to 1979

The first written record of a Venetian carnival is from 1094, under doge Vitale Falier, and a Senate decree of 1296 made it an official public festival. It stopped in 1797, when the Republic of Venice fell.

The Carnival you can attend is a revival from 1979, not an unbroken line. Almost two centuries separate the last Carnival of the Republic from the first modern one, which is why the masks look old and the event is young.

## No access fee as of September 11, 2026

No access fee applies to Venice as of September 11, 2026. The 2026 trial charged day visitors on 60 non-consecutive days between April 3 and July 26, and since July 27, 2026 nothing is charged.

Whether the fee returns in 2027, and on which days, is up to the city administration. Overnight guests were never the target: the trial applied to day-trippers only. The full story is at [the Venice access fee is not in force](/stories/venice-access-fee-is-not-in-force).

## 41°F in February

February in Venice averages 41.0°F (5.0°C), with a mean low of 33.6°F (0.9°C), on the 1991-2020 normals from the Tessera airport station, and January is colder still at 38.7°F (3.7°C). Whichever week Easter gives Carnival, you'll be outdoors in late winter.

A costume over a coat is not a figure of speech here. The rest of the city's calendar, from the Biennale to the Regata Storica, is at [events in Venice](/towns/venezia/events), and the month as a whole at [February in Italy](/plan/february-in-italy).

## FAQ

### When is Venice Carnival in 2027?

The 2027 dates are not published on a source we could read. Carnival always ends on Shrove Tuesday, 47 days before Easter, so it moves every year, and the Comune di Venezia, which organizes the modern edition with city associations, announces the program.

### How old is the Venice Carnival?

Its first written record dates from 1094, under doge Vitale Falier. A Senate decree made it an official public festival in 1296, the fall of the Republic ended it in 1797, and it came back in its modern form only in 1979.

### Do I have to pay the Venice access fee at Carnival?

No, not as of September 11, 2026. The 2026 trial ran from April 3 to July 26 and has ended, so no fee has applied since July 27, 2026. Whether a fee returns in 2027 is up to the city administration.

### How cold is Venice at Carnival time?

Cold enough to dress in layers under a costume. February in Venice averages 41.0°F (5.0°C), and nights sit near freezing with a mean low of 33.6°F (0.9°C), on the 1991-2020 normals from the Tessera airport station.

## Sources

| Fact | Source | Confidence | Valid until |
|---|---|---|---|
| Il Carnevale di Venezia e' una festa a data mobile che si svolge nei giorni che precedono la Quaresima e si chiude il Martedi' Grasso; l'edizione moderna e' organizzata dal Comune di Venezia insieme ad associazioni cittadine. | [Comune di Venezia - Venezia1600](https://1600.venezia.it/it/articolo/carnevale-venezia-storia-una-tradizione-millenaria-che-ha-reso-citta-lagunare-famosa-tutto) | medium | 2099-12-31 |
| Il Carnevale di Venezia ha una prima attestazione documentale nel 1094 sotto il doge Vitale Falier e diventa festa pubblica ufficiale con un decreto del Senato del 1296; si interrompe nel 1797 con la caduta della Repubblica e rinasce in forma moderna nel 1979. | [Comune di Venezia - Venezia1600](https://1600.venezia.it/it/articolo/carnevale-venezia-storia-una-tradizione-millenaria-che-ha-reso-citta-lagunare-famosa-tutto) | medium | 2099-12-31 |
| Il contributo di accesso di Venezia e' una tariffa per i visitatori giornalieri del centro storico: la sperimentazione 2026 si e' svolta dal 3 aprile al 26 luglio 2026 per 60 giorni non consecutivi e si e' conclusa, per cui dal 27 luglio 2026 il contributo non si applica; la reintroduzione negli anni successivi e' rimessa all'amministrazione comunale. | [Comune di Venezia - portale Contributo di Accesso](https://cda.ve.it/it/); [Comune di Venezia](https://www.comune.venezia.it/it/cda-info) | high | 2027-03-31 |
| Venezia: normali climatiche 1991-2020 della stazione Venezia Tessera (aeroporto Marco Polo) (2 m s.l.m.). Temperatura media annua 13.9 °C; mese piu' freddo gen (3.7 °C di media), mese piu' caldo lug (24.4 °C di media). | [WMO Climatological Standard Normals 1991-2020 - serie trasmessa dall'Italia (stazioni del Servizio Meteorologico dell'Aeronautica Militare), archivio NOAA NCEI accession 0253808](https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/archive/arc0216/0253808/6.6/data/0-data/Region-6-WMO-Normals-9120/Italy/CSV/Venezia_Tessera_16105.csv); [ISPRA - Sezione Climatologia Operativa, applicazione 'Valori climatici normali'](https://valori-climatici-normali.isprambiente.it/) | high | 2032-12-31 |

## Image

https://media.myitalia.it/media/event.carnevale-di-venezia.v2.1600.jpg
Author: Giorgio Minguzzi from Italy. License: CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0).
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Maschere_(4358435374).jpg

## Other languages

- it: https://myitalia.it/it/eventi/carnevale-di-venezia.md
- es: https://myitalia.it/es/eventos/carnevale-di-venezia.md
- fr: https://myitalia.it/fr/evenements/carnevale-di-venezia.md
- de: https://myitalia.it/de/veranstaltungen/carnevale-di-venezia.md