Empty Spaces and Abandoned Places: Venice Deserted as Traditional Carnival Held Without Tourists

The traditional festival in the northern Italian city, which attracts thousands of guests every year, has to be held online this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, which has already claimed at least 90,000 lives in the country.

The Venice Carnival is set in a half-empty city this year, with traditional masks remaining unsold and unwanted in the shops, as travel is restricted this year and all the main events are being held online. The festival will last until Shrove Tuesday (16 February) which is the last day before the start of the Lent, a season of abstinence which finally ends with the celebration of Easter (4 April).

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© AP Photo / Antonio Calanni

Carnival masks displayed in a Venetian shop, as the carnival is celebrated with no tourists in the city.

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© AP Photo / Antonio Calanni

Empty Piazza San Marco (St Mark's Square) in Venice amid carnival celebrations.

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© AP Photo / Antonio Calanni

An Italian artist puts on a carnival mask he made.

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© AP Photo / Antonio Calanni

A Venetian gondolier navigates the city's canals.

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© AP Photo / Antonio Calanni

An artist works on an elaborated carnival mask in Venice.

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© AP Photo / Antonio Calanni

A woman passes by a show-case displaying carnival masks in Venice.

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© AP Photo / Antonio Calanni

An artist creates a COVID-19 mask for carnival.

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© REUTERS / Manuel Silvestri

The city might seem empty but the pigeons are still flying over Venice's deserted canals.

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© AP Photo / Antonio Calanni

Carnival masks stockpiled at a workshop of an artist in Venice.

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© AP Photo / Antonio Calanni

A lone man wearing a mask waits for a ferry in Venice.