It's On In Venice

With Venice Biennale 2024 and high season in full tilt, La Serenissima is an island party

The Republic of Venice has been known as La Serenissima since Byzantine times thanks to its peaceful history, diplomacy, and wealth, which helped the divine island maintain its serene state. And even after 1600 years, the floating city is still every bit majestic, mystical, and enigmatic. But lately, the best adjective to describe it is CROWDED!

Early morning views

I spent five intense, rain-soaked days exploring the Venice Biennale and its collateral events, an every-two-year artsy fest where La Serenissima’s 118 islands are almost entirely dedicated to contemporary art. The theme Stranieri Ovunque - Foreigners Everywhere, and after having taken it all in, my take away is the Biennale wants us to both look around ourselves and out of our egos as well as take a look in the mirror. And yes, it’s worth your time.

Welcome to the Gardens

The Venice Biennale is like no other art experience. In the main venues of the Giardini (the massive park northeast of Piazza San Marco) and Arsenale (Venice’s former ship arsenal), there are tens of pavilions and a kilometre-long hall dedicated to site specific shows. And it spills across the city’s six sestieri into palazzi, courtyards, churches, galleries, empty business spaces and alcoves with paintings, video, installation, performance and sound.

More than 88 countries from around the world participate, as well as galleries and foundations, showcasing hundreds of artists with site-specific new work and/or retrospectives. The creativity and visual input is logarithmic. This year’s pieces are beautiful, thought-provoking, fun, annoying, and, at times, zany.

It’s a lot of art and there’s a lot of ground to cover, and with that in mind, I’ve outlined my idea of how to tackle the Venice Biennale in 3 days for Forbes. If you want a more replete guide with all of our favorite Biennale spots for art, plus restaurants, bars, boutiques and hotels, Venice with Ciao Bella has got you covered.

How to Make the Best of Venice in High Season

While this Biennale experience was serene (no lines or crowds in the main venues), Venice itself was already in full tourism mode. San Marco was busy, Rialto was frustrating, and the calle were crowded. At this point, you may be thinking “Why the heck would I even go there?”