Food, Freedom, Rosebuds, & Saint Mark
April 25th, the day that Italy was liberated from the Fascist regime. Today is a national holiday...and rightly so. Venice, as well as Mestre (the mainland Venice), has scheduled a long list of activities and festivities to celebrate, much like every other city in the nation. This day (for Venice) begins at 8:45am with a number of flag raisings throughout the city with numerous city and military officials present. Everything culminates at 8pm in Piazza San Marco with numerous dignitaries present for the lowering of the flag and military honors.
April 25th is also a Saint Mark's Day, the patron saint of Venice. In centuries past, The Feast of Saint Mark was the reason for a procession that took place in the Piazza that had religious authorities as well as civil dignitaries which also included a large number of artists. Basically, just about anybody who was anybody took part in it. Today, everything starts in Piazza San Marco at roughly 9am and things continue all day with food and concerts, two regattas, and a special tradition for the men of Venice.
The procession inside the Basilica with a Holy Mass begins at 10:30am. Later in the day there are two regattas. The first is at 9am from the Bienale Gardens, and the second is as 9:20am from Punto della Dogana. Throughout the day, there are massive BBQ's in Piazza San Marco that serve sausages, ribs, polenta, and chicken as well as serving wine and beer.
This day also holds a tradition for Venetian men. On this day it is a widespread tradition for the men of Venice to give a "bocolo", a red rosebud, to the woman that he loves most. Whoever said that Liberation and Love didn't go hand in hand has obviously never been to Venice on April 25th.