The Venice Design Week, the city-wide festival launched in 2010 by the Associazione Culturale Arte e Design, returns to Venice from 9 to 18 October 2026, transforming the city into a laboratory of creativity and innovation. Through exhibitions, conferences, workshops, and guided tours, the festival brings together designers, companies, universities, and research centers from around the world, offering the public a chance to explore new ideas and engage with cutting-edge design practices.
This year’s theme, “100”, reflects a deliberate approach: responsibility, precision, respect, and slowness guide every project. In Venice, a city both fragile and visionary, design is necessary and measurable, never ephemeral. Each work will be presented with images, texts, and a percentage map that makes the forces at play visible – a transparent and honest method inviting the public to read design as a complete production cycle.
Exhibition venues are spread across the city, including private galleries, museums, artists’ studios, shops, and workshops, with thematic routes dedicated to craftsmanship, such as the VDW Jewelry Selection, now in its twelfth edition. Venice Design Week offers a unique opportunity to experience the city as a space for experimentation and exchange, where aesthetics, function, and sustainability intersect with the city’s history and contemporary life.
The full public programme will be available from September 2026. Those planning to attend can also explore partner hotels, offering design-sensitive accommodations aligned with the festival’s vision.
Featured image: courtesy The Venice Design Week
