Until the 24th of February 2009, Campo Santo Stefano in Venice will host the 25th edition of the “Market of Venetian masks and costumes”- Visitors will have the chance to discover and buy the traditional masks and costumes of the Venetian tradition. Brochures in Italian, English, French, German, Spanish and Japanese will be available to learn more about the tradition of Venetian masks.

Since 1687 masks have been the hallmark of the Carnival in Venice: they are produced by skilled mask makers called “Maschereri" in Venetian. The Campo Santo Stefano’s market will display artisan masks, hand crafted by skilled craftsmen who, without the help of machines and using a very special technique, produce unique pieces of artwork.

Interestingly, masks were originally introduced to encourage some sort of social homogenization among members of different social classes and used to be worn also for social events not linked to Carnival.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: 
Venezia Associazione Provinciale
Confederazione Nazionale dell' Artigianato e della Piccola Media Impresa
Office in Venice: Calle Larga S.Marco,411/ A, tel 041 5230558