What to expect at a Venice Carnival ball

At 18:30: Don Giovanni: The Dissolute Punished, The Prince of Venice and The Legend of Casanova. At 19:00: Gabrielli Opera Gala Dinner and Sinfonie Veneziane. At 19:30: Ballo dalle Rose. At 20:00: Carnival Party Cruise, Avanspettacolo Cabaret Gala Dinner and Carnival Show, Un Ballo in Maschera, Carnival Extravaganza, The Ball of Dreams, Minuetto 1800, Minuetto, Carnival in Love Grand Ball, Ballo Tiepolo and Minuetto d'Amore. At 20:30: Il Ballo del Doge. At 21:00: Carnival Official Dinner Show.

The daytime events run earlier: Bal Masqué Tiepolo from 14:00 to 19:00 and Essence of Carnival from 13:00.

Few organisers publish an end time. Those who do: Bal Masqué Tiepolo until 19:00, The Prince of Venice until 23:30, Carnival Party Cruise until 00:00, Don Giovanni: The Dissolute Punished until 01:00, Sinfonie Veneziane until 01:00 and The Legend of Casanova until 01:00. Il Ballo del Doge sells a separate ticket for the after party from midnight, without dinner.

At 13 of the 20 events a period or historical costume is compulsory, and 8 of them say explicitly that evening dress is refused at the door; at 6 events elegant dress is enough, with a mask where the organiser asks for it, and at 1 event masks and costumes are welcome but not required. Each event page quotes the organiser's rule word for word. The ticket with the costume included, where it exists, is the simplest way to meet it: what each event asks you to wear, what the costume ticket adds, and the Venice ateliers that rent.

• Ridotto Ballrooms, Hotel Monaco & Grand Canal: Un Ballo in Maschera, Carnival Extravaganza, Minuetto 1800, Minuetto, Ballo Tiepolo and Minuetto d'Amore.
• Palazzo Ca' Zen ai Frari: The Ball of Dreams, Sinfonie Veneziane and Carnival in Love Grand Ball.
• Hotel Saturnia & International: Don Giovanni: The Dissolute Punished and The Legend of Casanova.
• Avanspettacolo Venezia, on the mainland, reached by road: Avanspettacolo Cabaret Gala Dinner and Carnival Show.
• Galleon departing from the Museo Navale, Riva San Biasio: Carnival Party Cruise.
• Hotel Gabrielli (Riva degli Schiavoni): Gabrielli Opera Gala Dinner.
• Hotel Principe (near the railway station): The Prince of Venice.
• Palazzo Passi (Grand Canal, San Polo): Essence of Carnival.
• Palazzo Rocca (Grand Canal): Ballo dalle Rose.
• Salone di Ca' Vendramin Calergi (Grand Canal): Carnival Official Dinner Show.
• Scuola Grande dei Carmini: Bal Masqué Tiepolo.
• Scuola Grande della Misericordia: Il Ballo del Doge.

Every venue in historic Venice is reached on foot or by boat; the event pages give the address where the organiser publishes it.

These notes come from more than ten editions of Il Ballo del Doge seen from the inside, not from the ticket page. The other balls are smaller; the shape of the night is similar.

Arriving

Nine guests out of ten arrive by water taxi. If the hotel is close, or you are already out in costume, you walk. Respect the time printed on your ticket and do not come early: there are hundreds of people, the checks at the door are quick but take time, and the queue waits outside, in February, in the cold.

The evening

Drinks and finger food are passed around as soon as you are in, on the ground floor, where the first show takes place; in some editions it is repeated several times rather than running as one piece. Then everybody climbs the great staircase. Upstairs the hall is transformed from floor to ceiling into one immense set, with the tables and a large stage, and the show does not stop for the rest of the night. Dinner begins once every guest is seated. After midnight the ground floor turns into a dance floor, with an open bar and very good DJs, until about half past two or three in the morning; some guests stay until the music is switched off.

What people wear

You get in only in a period costume. It does not have to be historically exact, it can be fanciful, but it has to be historical: no Batman or Catwoman, and no ordinary evening dress, or you stay outside. Almost everyone rents months ahead from Atelier Sautter, which has more than a thousand costumes, but you can rent elsewhere or wear your own. Many add a magnificent wig and every accessory of their costume's century: hats, masks, fans, headdresses, necklaces.

If it is your first time

Expect to be struck the moment you walk in: the set-up of both floors is pharaonic, and the shows never pause. Wear comfortable period shoes, eighteenth-century style, for men and women alike: they are a must. Using the bathroom in costume is not easy, above all with a wide crinoline, but it can be done. The rooms are heated, and with hundreds of people inside the temperature is just right. The cloakroom is at the entrance and always staffed.

Photographs and languages

Guests photograph whatever they like with their phones, but the organisation's own photographers are everywhere, ready to take beautiful pictures of the event and of the guests: ask one of them for a portrait, or book the photobooth on the ground floor during dinner. Everyone on the staff speaks English and Italian, and the organisation always has a team that speaks other languages too.

The after-party ticket

The ticket from midnight gives you the ground floor and the dance floor with its open bar, not the dinner upstairs. There is always someone who slips up the staircase to peek at the show, which rarely ends before one in the morning.

Who is there

Guests of every age, most of them from abroad: the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Asia, Russia, everywhere.

The other balls

The other balls are on a much smaller scale: always in costume, always elegant, but more intimate, with far fewer shows and sets. Some are closer in format to a historical masked ball than to a spectacular show.

Getting home

It is late when you leave, and you leave by taxi. Book it in advance and, if you can, ask for the flexibility to move it earlier or later.