Events in Venice, Italy
This October, Venice fills with design, music and sport, and the listing runs into mid-November. Venice Design Week spreads exhibitions, talks and workshops across the city from 9 to 18 October, Biennale Musica stages its concerts at the Arsenale until 24 October and the Venicemarathon finishes at Riva Sette Martiri on 25 October, while Biennale Arte 2026 stays open until 22 November. Sale Apollinee at Teatro La Fenice hosts Volosi on 14 October and Leo Middea on 19 October, and Candlelight concerts light the Scuola Grande San Giovanni Evangelista. At the museums, Jenny Saville fills Ca' Pesaro and Michael Armitage fills Palazzo Grassi.
Official Venice events in October
The festivals and public events below are drawn from Venice's official events calendar for the month, and each card links the organiser's own page with its dates and venue. For the permanent sights, start with visiting Venice's tourist attractions.
Biennale Arte 2026
When: 9 May to 22 November
Where: Giardini, Arsenale and venues across the city
The 61st International Art Exhibition, In Minor Keys, curated by Koyo Kouoh, fills the Giardini, the Arsenale and venues across the city.
Venice Design Week 2026
When: 9 to 18 October
Where: Venues across the city
Exhibitions, talks, guided tours and workshops spread across the city, in an event organised every October since 2010.
Biennale Musica 2026
When: 10 to 24 October
Where: Arsenale and Teatro Goldoni
The 70th International Festival of Contemporary Music, A Child of Sound, directed by Caterina Barbieri, opens at Teatro alle Tese with two world premieres.
Venicemarathon 2026
When: 25 October
Where: Villa Pisani in Stra to Riva Sette Martiri, Venice
The marathon starts in front of Villa Pisani on the Riviera del Brenta and finishes on the Riva Sette Martiri waterfront, passing through Piazza San Marco if the tide allows.
Live music and festivals in Venice
Volosi
Volosi plays Sale Apollinee del Teatro La Fenice on 14 October at 20:30.
Candlelight: Lucio Dalla e altri cantautori italiani
Leo Middea
Leo Middea plays Sale Apollinee del Teatro La Fenice on 19 October at 20:30.
Candlelight: Le quattro stagioni di Vivaldi
Candlelight: Le quattro stagioni di Vivaldi comes to Scuola Grande San Giovanni Evangelista on 1 November at 19:00.
The Jazz Room: omaggio a Frank Sinatra & Louis Armstrong
The Jazz Room: omaggio a Frank Sinatra & Louis Armstrong comes to Laguna Libre on 15 November at 18:00.
Art exhibitions and museum shows in Venice
Peggy Guggenheim in London, The Making of a Collector
Until: 19 October
Where: Peggy Guggenheim Collection
The first museum show on Guggenheim's London years revisits Guggenheim Jeune, the avant-garde gallery she ran off Cork Street in 1938 and 1939.
Spiral Economy, Charrière and Canova
Until: 22 November
Where: Museo Correr
Julian Charrière sets his sculpture, video and sound against Antonio Canova's marbles in the Canova rooms, a meditation on matter, erosion and deep time.
Jenny Saville
Until: 22 November
Where: Ca' Pesaro
The first major exhibition of Saville's work in Venice brings over 30 paintings and drawings, from the 1990s to a new cycle made in homage to the city.
Erwin Wurm, Dreamers
Until: 22 November
Where: Museo Fortuny
The first major monographic show of the Austrian sculptor in Italy, from the One Minute Sculptures to the swollen volumes of Fat Car and Fat House.
Michael Armitage, The Promise of Change
Until: 10 January 2027
Where: Palazzo Grassi
Forty-five paintings and over one hundred studies by the Kenyan-British painter, spread across two levels of the palazzo.
Klimt, Schiele, Kokoschka and the Body in Contemporary Art
Until: 14 February 2027
Where: MUVEC, Mestre
The new House of Contemporaries opens with the three Viennese masters of the body, carried forward through Manzoni, Gina Pane and later artists.
Venice tickets and tours
Bank holidays and local festivities in Venice
Public holidays change a visit more than most travellers expect. Public offices and banks close, shops and museums often move to a holiday timetable and boat and bus services can run to a different frequency, so a day built around one museum can fall apart. Italy fixes its civil holidays by national law, and the list grew for 2026: a law passed in October 2025 added 4 October, the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, patron saint of Italy, from 1 January 2026. The same law counts every Sunday as a holiday, which is why Easter Sunday, on 5 April 2026, is not listed separately. Venice adds one day of its own.
National holidays in Italy 2026
- 1 January New Year's Day (Capodanno)
- 6 January Epiphany (Epifania)
- 6 April Easter Monday (Lunedì dell'Angelo)
- 25 April Liberation Day (Festa della Liberazione)
- 1 May Labour Day (Festa del Lavoro)
- 2 June Republic Day (Festa della Repubblica)
- 15 August Assumption Day (Ferragosto)
- 4 October Saint Francis of Assisi (San Francesco d'Assisi)
- 1 November All Saints' Day (Ognissanti)
- 8 December Immaculate Conception (Immacolata Concezione)
- 25 December Christmas Day (Natale)
- 26 December Saint Stephen's Day (Santo Stefano)
Local holidays in Venice 2026
Saint Mark is the patron saint of Venice and his feast falls on 25 April, the day the whole country already keeps as Liberation Day. The city therefore takes its patron saint holiday on 21 November, the feast of the Madonna della Salute, and state offices based in the Comune di Venezia close that day.
- 21 November Madonna della Salute, the city patron saint holiday, local
Venezia Unica publishes a single daily opening time for each of the five IAT points, and it gives them no separate holiday timetable. The only holiday note in the whole listing sits on the Mestre counters for fines and resident parking permits, which open Monday to Saturday, public holidays excluded, so anyone travelling on one of these dates should check the office page on the day.
Plan the rest of your trip to Venice
Venice in a day and beyond
The Venice guide on Tourist Office lays out a walk through the sestieri, the landmarks worth booking ahead and how to reach the lagoon islands.
Tourist office in Venice
This page maps the official tourist information points in Venice, when they open and which public holidays change their hours.
Italy highlights
Beyond the lagoon, the country guide gathers Rome, Florence, the Amalfi Coast and the food and festivals worth a longer trip.