Key Takeaways
- Venice Carnival 2027 runs 23 January to 9 February 2027, confirmed on the Carnival's own site. It ends on Shrove Tuesday, as it always does.
- The date moves every year because it is tied to Easter. It is not a fixed calendar slot, which is why last year's dates are useless for planning this year's trip.
- Most of the Carnival is free. Street performances, the costume parades in Piazza San Marco and the mask contests cost nothing.
- The day-tripper access fee is not currently being charged. It applied on 60 selected days between 3 April and 26 July 2026, and that window has closed. No 2027 dates have been published.
- Several widely-read guides print the wrong 2027 dates, including 30 January to 17 February. Check the official site before you book anything.
When exactly is Venice Carnival 2027?
23 January to 9 February 2027. The closing day is Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday, which is how the Carnival has always been dated. Because Easter moves, the Carnival moves with it, so the 2027 dates sit noticeably earlier in the year than some recent editions.
This sounds like a small detail and it is the single most common planning error for this trip. Carnival is not a fixed slot like Oktoberfest. It is calculated backwards from Easter, which in 2027 falls on 28 March. Ash Wednesday is 10 February 2027, which puts Shrove Tuesday on 9 February and anchors the whole festival.
One warning worth taking seriously. While checking these dates we found several well-ranked travel guides publishing 30 January to 17 February 2027, and others giving a 30 January start. Those dates do not match the organisers' own site. An end date of 17 February would fall a week after Ash Wednesday, which is not how Carnival works.
If you are booking flights or a hotel around this, use the dates on the official Carnival site and nothing else.
Do you have to pay the Venice access fee in 2027?
Not at the moment. Venice charged a day-tripper access fee on 60 selected days between 3 April and 26 July 2026, and that period has ended. The city's own page currently publishes a 2026 calendar only. Any application in 2027 needs a fresh decision from the municipality, and none has been published.
This is the claim most likely to be wrong in anything else you read, so here is precisely what the Comune di Venezia states. For 2026 the contribution applied "a partire dal 03 aprile 2026 al 26 luglio 2026 per un totale di 60 giornate non consecutive", that is, from 3 April to 26 July 2026 across 60 non-consecutive days.
Those days are in the past. There is no published 2027 calendar.
You may see reports that the fee could rise to EUR 30 from 2027. Treat those as proposals being discussed, not as a rule you have to budget for. They have not been enacted, and the rate, the days and whether it applies at all are still open.
What has not changed is who the fee is aimed at when it does run. It targets day visitors. People staying overnight in Venice accommodation are exempt, though they must be registered on the city portal, and the tourist tax on the hotel bill is a separate charge that has always existed. Residents, workers, students and Veneto residents are excluded or exempt.
The practical planning line: if you are staying overnight in Venice for Carnival, the access fee was never going to be your cost anyway. Check the city's own access-fee page about a month before you travel to see whether 2027 dates have appeared.
What can you see for free?
The majority of the Carnival is free. The costume parades in Piazza San Marco, the street performances across the city, and the mask contests are all open to anyone standing there. The paid events are the private balls and the seated dinner shows, which are a separate product aimed at a different budget.
This surprises people who assume a festival this famous must be ticketed throughout. The core of Venice Carnival is public and always has been. You can spend three days there, see the best of it, and pay for nothing but your accommodation, food and transport.
The two things worth planning around:
| What | Cost | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Costume parades, Piazza San Marco | Free | The most photographed part of the Carnival, and the most crowded |
| Street performances across the city | Free | Spread through the sestieri, quieter than the piazza |
| Mask contests | Free to watch | Competitors prepare for months |
| Private balls | Paid, often expensive | Book well ahead, dress codes are enforced |
| Seated dinner shows | Paid | A different experience from the street Carnival |
The detailed 2027 programme, with times for individual events, has not been published yet. The organisers usually release it closer to the date. So rather than promise you a schedule that does not exist, the honest advice is: the dates are fixed, the free street Carnival is certain, and the day-by-day timings are worth checking again in December or early January.
Where should you stay for Carnival?
Staying overnight in Venice itself exempts you from the access fee in any year it applies, and it removes the daily trek in from the mainland during the busiest fortnight of the Venetian year. It is also when Venice accommodation is at its most expensive, so the trade-off is real.
The alternative most people consider is staying in Mestre, on the mainland, and coming in by train. It is cheaper, the connection is quick, and it is a legitimate choice. What it costs you is the early morning and late evening in Venice, which is exactly when the city is at its best and least crowded.
If Carnival is the reason for the trip, the case for sleeping in Venice is stronger than usual.
Compare live prices for Venice hotels and book early. Carnival accommodation moves months in advance.
How do you plan the trip around a moving date?
Fix the Carnival dates first, then build everything else around them. Because the festival moves with Easter each year, the usual instinct of booking a familiar week of the calendar will simply miss it.
Work in this order: confirm the dates on the official site, decide which days you want to be in the city, book accommodation, then book travel. The peak is the final weekend into Shrove Tuesday, 9 February 2027, which is also when prices and crowds peak.
With the dates fixed, compare Venice hotel prices and search flights to VCE.
If you want the Carnival atmosphere with more room to move, the opening weekend from 23 January is considerably calmer than the closing days.
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Frequently asked questions
What are the exact dates of Venice Carnival 2027?
23 January to 9 February 2027, as published by the Carnival's official organisers. The final day is Shrove Tuesday. Be careful with third-party guides: several currently publish 30 January to 17 February, which does not match the official source.
Do I have to pay to enter Venice in 2027?
Not currently. The access fee applied on 60 selected days between 3 April and 26 July 2026 and is not being charged now. The city has published no 2027 dates, and any future application requires a new municipal decision. Overnight guests are exempt from it in any case.
Is Venice Carnival free?
Most of it, yes. Street performances, the parades in Piazza San Marco and the mask contests are free to watch. Private balls and dinner shows are ticketed and can be expensive.
Why does the Carnival date change every year?
Because it is tied to Easter. The Carnival ends on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday, and Easter is a moveable feast. Easter 2027 falls on 28 March, which places Shrove Tuesday on 9 February 2027.
When will the full 2027 programme be published?
The organisers typically release the detailed event schedule closer to the festival. The dates are already confirmed, so accommodation can be booked now, with the day-by-day timings checked in December or January.
Sources
- Carnevale di Venezia, official site - the confirmed 2027 dates of 23 January to 9 February 2027
- Comune di Venezia, Contributo di Accesso - the 2026 application window of 3 April to 26 July 2026 across 60 non-consecutive days, the exclusions and exemptions, and the absence of any published 2027 calendar
All figures verified 28 September 2026.
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Going to Carnival? Plan the trip free - Navoy: your AI Travel Agent
About the Author
Ranym Garali
Ranym is the Marketing and Content Lead at Navoy. She's been writing about travel for two years and digs into the data behind each piece, flight prices, visa rules and what people are actually searching for , so the advice holds up in practice.
