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The Redentore feast day (the Festa del Redentore) is one of the oldest and most popular Venetian religious festival. This Feast commemorates the end of a devastating epidemic of black plague, which in 1576 carried off a third of the Venetian population. The Church of the Redentore was built on the Giudecca Island and a vow was made
by the Doge to lead a procession of thanksgiving every year to the church.
A pontoon bridge had to be constructed to allow
the large procession of people to flock from one side
to the other. A night's vigil had to precede the Festa.
The vigil, however, did not take place in churches
or homes but in boats, any kind of boat . The festival
is still celebrated the very same way. It is traditionally held during the 3rd week-end of July (2010: July 17th / 18th). On this occasion hundreds of boats decorated with
branches, lanterns and coloured balloons gather
on the Saturday evening in the Giudecca Canal a
nd in St. Mark's Basin. It’s a sort of water picnic. Those that could not spend the night on a boat, crowd the quayside of the Giudecca in an endless line of laid tables
or the palaces balconies to watch this festival of sounds and lights which culminates in a great firework display that produces highly evocative plays of colour on the water.
(photos from the flickr accounts 'Torcello Tre' and 'topo')