On May 17, Venice celebrates the Festa della Sensa, this year dedicated to Friuli on the fiftieth anniversary of the 1976 earthquake, through a twinning initiative with the municipality of Lusevera. On May 24, it is the turn of the Vogalonga, which reaches the milestone of its fiftieth edition.
Festa della Sensa, Venice celebrates its marriage to the sea
The Sensa is one of Venice’s oldest and most deeply rooted celebrations, a ritual that evokes the inseparable relationship between the city and the sea. The festival coincides with Ascension Day and originates from two pivotal moments in the history of the Serenissima. The first dates back to May 9, 1000, when Doge Pietro II Orseolo led an expedition to Dalmatia to protect local communities from Slavic attacks, an act that consolidated the Republic’s role as a maritime power in the Adriatic. The second took place in 1177, when Pope Alexander III and Frederick Barbarossa signed in Venice the peace treaty that ended the long conflict between Papacy and Empire, sealing the city’s diplomatic prestige. Over the centuries, this historical backdrop gave rise to the ritual of the Marriage to the Sea. A solemn gesture uniting religion, politics, and auspice: aboard the Bucintoro, the Doge would sail toward the Lido accompanied by a procession of boats and rowers, blessing the Adriatic and casting a gold ring into the water as a symbol of the indissoluble bond between Venice and the sea. Today, the Sensa remains a heartfelt and widely attended celebration thanks to the work of the Comitato Festa della Sensa and the Voga alla Veneta rowing associations, which for more than twenty-five years have revived the procession of boats following the Bucintoro from San Marco to San Nicolò, creating one of the most iconic spectacles of Venetian tradition.
50th Vogalonga, the spectacle of over 8,000 rowers and 2,000 boats
This year the Vogalonga, Venice’s great rowing marathon, reaches the milestone of its fiftieth edition with an unmistakable sign of its enduring appeal: registrations sold out in less than ten days, an all-time record in the event’s history. It all began in 1974, when a group of enthusiasts of Venetian rowing decided to react against the roar of motorboats that was already suffocating the lagoon’s fragile beauty. The official Vogalonga was launched the following year. Half a century later, the surge in international registrations paradoxically risked excluding historic rowing clubs and the irreducible Cavalieri del Remo, who have never missed an edition. Measures were immediately introduced to guarantee participation for local residents: on May 24 the lagoon will belong to everyone, but first and foremost to Venetians. The traditional cannon shot from the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore marks the official start. In an almost indescribable spectacle, the San Marco Basin fills with thousands of gondolas, caorline, kayaks, dragon boats, canoes, and vessels of every shape and origin. Together they glide toward the northern lagoon, accompanied only by the sound of oars cutting through the water, the voices of the rowers, and the cheers rising from the shores. Thirty kilometres to the finish line at the Dogana da Mar, for a “fleet” arriving from all over the world, united by the same feeling: love for Venice and for an event that has never betrayed its origins.
