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Agence France-Presse

Elaborately dressed couples promenaded around St Mark’s Square in the fog as Venice kicked off its celebrated carnival this weekend – without the usual crowds of tourists, absent because of the pandemic.
“It’s totally surreal,” said 47-year-old carnival-goer Chiara Ragazzon, an office worker.
“What hits me most is the silence. You’ve always been able to hear music during the carnival, people having fun. But Venice in the fog – it’s still a magical place.”

Ragazzon and her husband had ventured into Venice from their home around 50 kilometres (30 miles) away.
Italy relaxed its coronavirus restrictions on Monday, allowing greater freedoms in most regions.
Venice is among the areas now under a lower-risk “yellow” category – but residents are still not allowed to travel outside the region.
A short walk from St Mark’s Square, Hamid Seddighi, dressed in paint-splattered overalls, was making a carnival mask in his workshop, moulding and smoothing it with delicate precision.
His store, Ca’ de Sol, sells masks made from papier mache, lace and iron, bedecked with Swarovski crystals.
But his creations have been piling up without takers.

The pandemic has pushed his revenues down 70 per cent – mainly due to the lack of foreign tourists, his main clientele.
“It was love at first sight for me and these masks,” said the 63-year-old, who moved to Italy from Iran.
“I’ve been making them for 35 years. But it’s tragic – I have only sold two for the carnival.”
Pre-pandemic, the carnival brought some 70 million euros (US$84 million) to Venice’s coffers, according to City Hall, with more than half a million tourists flooding in.
The local artisans’ association has launched a discount campaign to encourage residents to take part in this year’s festivities in the absence of foreign visitors.
Venice activates flood defence system as sea levels rise
“Venice carnival – masked … and with masks”, runs their slogan, a nod to the ubiquity of face-coverings both festive and protective.
Despite the gloom, the association’s director Gianni De Checchi sees an opportunity for residents to reclaim a city where overtourism has brought with it a slew of negative effects, from pollution to rocketing rents.
“It’s an opportunity for Venetians to reappropriate and rediscover their town,” he said.
“For the past 25 years, mass tourism has unravelled the socio-economic fabric of central Venice. And in a way, it has led the carnival astray.”
Venice authorities were forced to cut short last year’s carnival when the pandemic took hold. This year it is moving some of the celebrations online, with videos showing Venetians in full carnival regalia.
From Saint Mark’s Square to the Rialto Bridge, Venice lights up in gold to brighten the Christmas spirit
“It’s a way of reinvigorating the ties which bind us to the millions of people who love Venice,” said Simone Venturini, deputy mayor for tourism.
A stately dance on the Rialto bridge, performed by a group of carnival-lovers in baroque costumes, is among the scenes that have been filmed.
“We wanted to show that Venice is not a dead city – that we can have fun even in the middle of Covid,” said one of the dancers, Armando Bala, decked out in a red velvet frock coat and a curled white wig.
With his wife Arnisa, Bala has managed the store La Bauta for more than 20 years, selling sumptuous period costumes and artisan masks.
The carnival usually contributes about 40 per cent of their revenues.
“We’re not trying to make money – we just want to survive,” said Bala


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Coronavirus pandemic

Venetians keep the magic alive as tourist-free carnival kicks off

A Venetian wearing a carnival mask and costume at St Mark's square in Venice on Sunday. Photo: AFP

People walk across a deserted St. Mark's square in Venice on February 7, 2021, as the carnival is being cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. (Photo by Marco Bertorello / AFP)

Venetians artisans set their carnival mask and costumes by the Bridge of Sighs (Ponte dei Sospiri) after a demonstration of The Confederation of Venice Artisans (Confartigianato Venezia) at St. Mark's square in Venice on February 7, 2021, as the carnival is being cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. (Photo by Marco Bertorello / AFP)

Coronavirus rains on Tokyo’s parade as Asakusa Samba Carnival postponed indefinitely

A samba dancer performs during the annual Asakusa Samba Carnival in Tokyo, Japan in 2016. Photo: Reuters

Samba dancers perform during the annual Asakusa Samba Carnival in Tokyo, Japan August 27, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Venice under water as flood defences fail

A man poses for a photo by a cardboard cut-out of the Vitruvian Man in Venice’s flooded St Mark’s Square on Tuesday. Photo: AFP

TOPSHOT - A man walks across an arcade by a flooded St. Mark's Square on December 8, 2020 in Venice following a high tide "Alta Acqua" event following heavy rains and strong winds, and the mobile gates of the MOSE Experimental Electromechanical Module that protects the city of Venice from floods, were not lifted (Photo by ANDREA PATTARO / AFP)

‘It feels good’: India’s Taj Mahal palace reopens to tourists after six-month closure amid coronavirus crisis, even as cases in country continue to rise

Tourists take a groupie at the Taj Mahal on Monday. Photo: AFP

(COMBO) This combination photo created on September 21, 2020, shows tourists visiting the Taj Mahal on September 21, 2020 (top) and (bottom) a large crowd of tourists on October 20, 2018, in Agra. - The Taj Mahal reopened to visitors on September 21 in a symbolic business-as-usual gesture even as India looks set to overtake the US as the global leader in coronavirus infections. (Photo by Sajjad HUSSAIN and Pawan SHARMA / AFP)

Tourists visit the Taj Mahal in Agra on September 21, 2020. - The Taj Mahal reopens to visitors on September 21 in a symbolic business-as-usual gesture, even as India looks set to overtake the US as the global leader in coronavirus infections. (Photo by Sajjad HUSSAIN / AFP)

A worker sanitises railings at the Taj Mahal in Agra, India, after authorities reopened the famous monument to visitors. Photo: Reuters

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Elaborately dressed couples promenaded around St Mark’s Square in the fog as Venice kicked off its carnival – without the tourists
Before the coronavirus pandemic, the carnival brought some US$84 million to Venice’s coffers



The local artisans’ association sees an opportunity for residents to reclaim a city where overtourism has brought with it a slew of negative effects.
