Venice's boat festival - 13th September 2023

Venice is a famous Italian city. There, people travel by boat. Every September, the city has the Historical Regatta. The city celebrates its boat history.

Patric Scherzinger's German. He loves the festival. Martina Eckel works in Venice.

Patric Scherzinger: "It's really all about the presentation of the boats, the historic ones. The regatta itself, yes, is not that impressive. But the historical part with all the costumes and the preparation of the boats, that is of course ingenious, you really have to say that."

Martina Eckel: "Very beautiful as every year, and as a Venetian, it is always a wonderful experience every year to see it."

The name for these boats is gondolas. The sailors wear special clothes at the festival. They carry the city ruler and city officials. The festival is about Venice's history. The city has 118 islands and many canals.

The festival began in 942 CE. Pirates took some women from Venice. The sailors went after them in their boats. They caught the pirates. They saved the women. At the festival, they celebrate with boat races.

Many tourists travel to Venice for the festival. Lidiano Enzo loves this.

Lidiano Enzo: "We do these events to promote Venezia football and Venice because it is a unique city in the world and so it is beautiful."

Tourists usually go for a quiet gondola ride in Venice.

Emmanuel Granat's a French tourist. He thinks the Historical Regatta is a great festival.

Emmanuel Granat: "The boats are magnificent, the costumes are magnificent... There's an atmosphere, a little bit of music, it's Venice."