International Kids’ Carnival

La Biennale di Venezia, chaired by Paolo Baratta, announces the 9th International Kids’ Carnival, which will take place from Saturday February 3rd to Sunday February 11th in Venice, featuring free workshops with reservation required, open to schools from Monday through Saturday and to families on Saturday and Sunday.

The International Kids’ Carnival is an important Educational Project of the Biennale now in its 9th edition, and is addressed to young people, schools and teachers, and families. Its goal is to stimulate creativity and participation in workshops, competitions, mask and costume-making, to encourage the direct involvement of participants (young and not-so-young).

The International Kids’ Carnival will be held for the second time in the headquarters of the Biennale, at Ca’ Giustinian in the centre of Venice (San Marco, 1364/A) on the ground floor (Portego) and on the first, second and fifth floors. "This is a more contained space and for that very reason, it is more functional to the development and fine-tuning that we wish for our Carnival – stated President Paolo Baratta ­– to give this initiative greater structure, to guarantee the quality of the participation".

The main purpose and primary characteristic of the International Kids’ Carnival wishes to be active participation, in suitably-equipped spaces, of young people, parents and caretakers, whose role must not be passive, but focused and participatory. For this reason, all participants will be asked to please leave their mobile phones and smartphones at the door of Ca’ Giustinian.

Participating in the 9th International Kids’ Carnival, will be Bolivia, Romania and Hungary, as well as the Conservatory of Venice and national and local cultural organizations. Over 100 local Schools have registered for the workshops.

During the Biennale Carnival, as always on inauguration day (Saturday February 3rd), the Silver Lions for Creativity will be awarded, as a result of the online competition for primary and upper and lower level secondary schools, for projects the goal of which was to develop creativity applied to the arts in schools.

A record number of projects were submitted for the Silver Lions for Creativity, with 87 proposals from 79 schools from all over Italy, divided as follows:
21 projects from 20 primary schools
40 projects from 37 lower-level secondary schools
26 projects from 22 upper-level secondary schools.

The 9th International Kids’ Carnival will feature a programme that includes:

• School Days: art, music and science workshops (reservation required)
• The Magnificents: the main section will involve 8 schools from Italy and Austria, engaging 170 students in projects for school-work alternation.
• The Countries: Bolivia will present a short programme of folk dances in traditional costumes, Romania will conduct a workshop dedicated to the history of traditional Romanian decorations, and Hungary will lead a workshop on role games focused on "the Paul Street boys".
• The Institutions and collaborations: readings to talk about children's rights, presented by UNICEF, workshops for schools and ateliers of "musical games" for families conducted by the Conservatory B. Marcello of Venice; workshops and activities presented by Il Club dei Piccoli from Pianiga and Dolo (VE) and the social cooperative Il Cerchio Onlus of Venice.
• a creative costume-making workshop: with reservations strictly required, to make rapid accessories using fabric, paper and simple or recycled materials, with the collaboration of the social cooperative Il Cerchio.

To those schools that have been demonstrated an unflagging and constant participation in the various editions of the International Kids’ Carnival, a “loyalty prize” will be awarded as an acknowledgment to the teachers who have encouraged the participation of their classes and learning institutions.

We would like to thank F.I.L.A. Fabbrica Italiana Lapis ed Affini, which with their Giotto brand are the Official Colours of the 9th International Kids’ Carnival, Vela – VeneziaUnica, Ghiott Dolciaria, and Tessitura Luigi Bevilacqua.

Download the programme

Services available at Ca’ Giustinian every day (10 am - 6 pm):
Cafeteria
Nursery
Coatroom
Family Area
Bookshop
Mobile phone storage

Transportation
Servizio Biennale Carnevale Vaporetto service free for Schools (upon reservation only, seats are limited)
Servizio Biennale Carnevale Bus service free for the schools of the Veneto region (upon reservation, seats are limited)
from Piazzale Roma or Tronchetto > San Marco
from San Marco > Piazzale Roma or Tronchetto

How to get to Ca’ Giustinian
from Piazzale Roma – Actv lines 1, 2, special Arlecchino and Pantalone lines
from Stazione FS (Train Station) – Actv lines 1, 2, special Arlecchino and Pantalone lines

Info and reservations
Tel. +39 041 5218828
Fax +39 041 5218732
promozione@labiennale.org