Festa delle Marie and Flight of the Angel (Volo dell'Angelo)

Blue skies, sun, not too chilly temperatures. Much better day for the Festa delle Marie. Unfortunately  it would have  to be a very abbreviated version in order to fit in with all the other events scheduled for the day.  No parade from San Pietro di Castello yesterday, instead the parade groups began in the Piazzetta.

I got out early.  As I was hustling through the Piazzetta I caught a glimpse of a few of the beautiful costumes lined up along the Riva and of the parade groups getting into formation.   Lady luck was with me, or so I mistakenly believed, as I managed to get a pretty darned good spot right at the parade barricade leading up to the main stage. The parade would pass right in front of me! My camera was snapping from start to finish- well, almost finish.  Lady luck only went so far,-both my camera battery and backup went dead. With about 30 minutes of milling about until the Flight of the Angel at exactly 12 noon,  I figured I could at least could get some shots of the Angel in descent.  Just as the Angel was about to step off the platform and take off, my iPhone battery also went dead. Despite a little run of bad luck, I stayed to witness the Angel's flight anyway.  It was magnificent.

Here's a recap of the morning's events in photos. Enjoy a little taste of Carnevale!

Flag throwers warming up. Groups from surrounding areas of the Veneto come to participate, all in traditional garb.

The cable used for the flight of the angel was tested about an hour pre flight.

The Doge and his entourage arrives !

  Following the Doge are the 12 Maries. The first few are carried on the shoulders of gondoliers.

 This fellow is the King of the Gnocchi's, leading a bunch of other gnocchi's. I have forgotten which city they came from.

 Best shoes of the day!

The official website of Carnevale 2013 posted a video of the Flight of the Angel on You Tube, the link is below.  Watching it is the  next best thing to being there with me. Enjoy!


Click here to watch Flight of the Angel video

Carnevale 2011

The flight of the Angel took place in ST. Mark's square on Saturday afternoon. This is one of the kickoff events of Carnevale.

Note: In previous years, the Angel has been a celebrity, generally Italian. This year it was a lovely Venetian, 23 yr old Silvia Bianchini.  Silvia was the Carnevale 2010 "Marie".  Each year 12 beautiful young Venetian women are chosen to be the Marie's. They are featured in the Marie's Parade on opening day of Carnevale and also appear at numerous functions during the week. On the last day, one of them is chosen to be "The" Marie.

Because of high winds on Saturday, Silvia did  not wear a 12 meter long portion of her costume.  She looked a bit frightened to me, but thankfully she perservered. She made the descent gracefully!