Venice Carnival 2027: Dates, Programme, Masks and Balls

Dates and calendar 2027: the starting point is 23 January

The 2027 Carnival starts on Saturday 23 January and ends on Tuesday 9 February, Shrove Tuesday. These dates come from the banner on the organiser’s official website, checked on 24 October 2026. Several travel sites give 27 or 30 January as the start: those dates do not match the organiser’s announcement, so don’t use them to book a train or a hotel.

The religious calendar confirms the end date. Easter falls on Sunday 28 March 2027, so Ash Wednesday is 10 February and Shrove Tuesday is 9 February. This calculation is not an announcement by the organiser, but it doesn’t contradict any published date.

The table below compares the 2027 edition with the two previous ones. Past dates are there to compare formats: they don’t predict times or the programme.

Source: official Carnival of Venice website, checked on 24 October 2026; 2025 edition from Sky TG24.

2027 programme: what is confirmed and what isn’t

The organiser has published the 2027 official dinners and a call for artists dated 19 October 2026. However, the pages we read on 24 October 2026 give no 2027 date for the parades, the Festa delle Marie or the flight from the St Mark’s Campanile. Guides and resellers offer probable dates. They are flagged here as such, never as confirmed.

Source: official dinner page and official website, checked on 24 October 2026; balls from VivoVenetia, a reseller.

The Volo dell’Angelo, a flight from the St Mark’s Campanile, is described by the Italian press as an old tradition that has changed name over time. The organiser has published no 2027 date for it. The official Festa delle Marie page describes the festival without giving a date for the 2027 edition. For the mask parades, the website presents the 2026 format, with competitions from late January: the same format is likely in 2027, but this is not confirmed.

Check the news page of the organiser’s website before you fix your stay. Once the programme is published, times can be checked on the same page.

Costumes and masks: what the organiser says

The mask is the symbol of the Carnival, and the organiser describes its historical types. The bauta covers the face and leaves the mouth free, which distorts the voice. The moretta is held in place with the lips and stops you from speaking. The tabarro is a cape, and the gnaga is also mentioned, without a description on the page we read. These definitions come from the « Masks and costumes » page of the official website, read on 24 October 2026.

In the street, we found no rule requiring a mask or costume for 2026 or 2027. A rule missing from the pages we read is not proof that it doesn’t exist: check the published guidelines before you travel. The press has also reported, on past dates, identity checks of masked people and bag searches on the square. These are not rules in force for 2027.

Making your own mask

Venice

The mask-making workshop listed on Viator is titled « Venetian Carnival Mask Making Class in Venice, Italy ». Its exact content, duration and price are on the listing. A workshop lets you watch the making of a mask, whereas souvenir shops mostly sell mass-produced ones, according to guides.

Highlights

• A mask-making class, according to the Viator listing title.
• Check availability on the listing before you book.
• Check the price on the listing before you book.

Pixidia tip: the class language and meeting point are not in the data we checked. Confirm them on the listing before you book, and choose your slot once your dates are set.

Venetian Carnival Mask Making Class in Venice, Italy Check the price on the listing

Book my mask-making class

Masks sold in souvenir shops are often mass-produced, sometimes outside Italy. One guide puts the share of factory masks very high, with no source: that figure is not repeated here. Papier-mâché does not prove craftsmanship either, since factory versions exist too. The most reliable sign remains watching a mask being made in front of you, in a workshop.

Source: Ulysse, a French-language travel guide to the Venice Carnival 2026 for both items, checked on 24 October 2026.

These ranges come from 2026 guides. They give an order of magnitude, not a 2027 price. For a ball, check the dress code announced at booking before you hire or sew a costume.

For visits to book during the festival, our guide Venice Carnival 2027: 8 Experiences to Book Around the Parades lists experiences you can book now.

Masked balls and official dinners: who runs them, and at what price

There are two kinds of event. The official dinner belongs to the Carnival’s organiser: it takes place at Ca’ Vendramin Calergi, and its page announces a price from €650, with a booking link. The masked balls are run by private operators, in Venetian palaces. Their prices mostly come from resellers, who show them as « from » prices without saying what is included.

Source: official dinner page, checked on 24 October 2026; VivoVenetia, Carnival 2027 guide (reseller, no update date), checked on 24 October 2026.

The venue for the balls needs checking. A reseller names Palazzo Zeno, but the organiser had not confirmed the venue on the date we checked. Before you pay, check that the ticket is sold by the organiser named on its official page, and that the venue is confirmed by that same organiser.

According to the organiser’s website, relayed by a reseller, a dress code is announced when you book the balls. Official dinners are booked through the link on the official page; balls are booked with their organiser or a reseller. We found no official booking calendar for the balls. Also ask about cancellation and refund terms: they do not appear on the reseller pages we read.

Getting into Venice: the access fee and transport

The Venice access fee, the contribution charged to day visitors, does not apply to the 2027 Carnival according to the calendar the press announced on 15 October 2026. That calendar lists 72 paying days, from 26 March to 15 August 2027, so it does not overlap with 23 January to 9 February. The City has not confirmed this calendar: 15 August appears only in the press. The €10 cap is also a press report, as the 2027 fee schedule has not been published. The full rules are in our article on the 2027 access fee.

For the 2026 rules, which still serve as a reference, see our guide to the 2026 tourist tax for day visitors.

From Marco Polo airport, the official tourist office lists line 5 (AeroBus), which reaches Piazzale Roma in about 20 minutes. Lines 15 and 45 serve Mestre. The office does not give bus or shuttle prices: the prices in the table come from third-party sites.

Source: Venezia Unica, airport transfers for routes and duration, checked on 24 October 2026; prices from guides and third-party sites, unverified.

Where to stay: the historic centre or Mestre

We found no 2027 hotel rate on any open source. The only references come from guides published for 2026 and should be read as rough orders of magnitude. The historic centre can cost €150 to €300 a night at peak, and one guide says rates double at weekends. Mestre, on the mainland, is quoted at €80 to €100 a night, about ten minutes by train from Venice.

The choice depends on your programme. Staying in the centre avoids night journeys after a ball. Mestre suits a tight budget or a stay of several nights, with frequent trains according to a 2026 guide. A third-party guide also notes that budget accommodation on the island fills from October: book early, before the detailed programme is known. Travel companies also sell packaged stays: CroisiEurope advertises a 5-day cruise departing 7 February 2027, from €1,365 per person according to the operator, price to be checked. It is a commercial offer, not a programme from the City.

A possible day, and the mistakes to avoid

A day of workshop and sightseeing can follow this order. In the morning, get into the centre early: guides report that the bridges are crowded in the afternoon. Around midday, book the mask workshop; its duration is on the listing. In the late afternoon, head to St Mark’s Square, which drew about 20,000 people on the opening evening in 2025. Don’t plan a parade or a flight for a fixed time until the organiser has published it.

The most common mistakes come from assumed dates. These are the ones the pages we read help you avoid:

• Leaving on 27 or 30 January. The official start is 23 January.
• Booking a ball without checking the organiser. Reseller pages are not enough to confirm the venue.
• Buying a shop mask at the price of a workshop mask. Ask to see the making process.
• Keeping a 2026 hotel rate for 2027. 2027 rates are not published.
• Forgetting the return from the airport. Compare the express bus and the river shuttle before you go, as their prices are unverified.

Depending on your profile

Families: we found no child price or minimum age for the mask workshop. Check them on the listing before you book.

On a small budget: stay in Mestre, take the train into the centre, and limit yourself to one ball. The official dinner remains the choice if your budget allows.

First visit: focus on St Mark’s Square and the official dinners, which are confirmed. Keep a flexible day for the parades, whose timing is still to be published.

What other guides don’t tell you

Five points checked against official pages and the press are missing or wrong in some of the guides we read.

• The Carnival starts on 23 January 2027, not the 27th or the 30th. The organiser’s website banner gives this date, which several travel sites do not repeat (official website, checked on 24 October 2026).
• The official dinners have set dates and a venue. They take place on 30 and 31 January and from 4 to 9 February, with corporate dinners from 1 to 3 February, at Ca’ Vendramin Calergi (official dinner page, checked on 24 October 2026).
• The Carnival does not fall on the paying days announced for the access fee. The press calendar lists 72 days, from 26 March to 15 August 2027, outside the Carnival dates (Radio Clodia, 15 October 2026; calendar not confirmed by the City, checked on 24 October 2026).
• No 2027 date from the organiser is published for the Festa delle Marie or the Volo dell’Angelo, and ball dates come from resellers. The dates in guides are not backed by any organiser page (Festa delle Marie page, checked on 24 October 2026).
• No mask rule applies in the street, but a dress code is announced for the balls. The masks and costumes page sets no obligation in the street (Masks and costumes page, checked on 24 October 2026). For balls, the dress code is announced at booking, according to the organiser’s website, relayed by a reseller.