The 2025 edition of the Viareggio Carnival has just ended and it is already time to think about the next edition. Indeed, new dates have already been set for February 2026.
Viareggio Carnival is one of the most important Carnival events in Italy and Europe. It became famous over time thanks to its unique story, its strong identity, and its big floats. The ones parading in Viareggio are renowned to be some of the biggest floats in the entire world.
The Passeggiata, the seaside promenade of the town, is the scene of the huge street parades. The Carnival in Viareggio takes place for five weekends. Usually between the second half of January and the first week of March, depending on the annual date of Carnival.
You will find the marching band, huge monumental allegorical floats, hundreds of masks, and people wearing thematic costumes. All together they liven up Viareggio dancing to the rhythm of the music.
Viareggio Carnival 2026 Edition – The Program
Tens of thousands of people crowded the seaside boulevards during the six parades of the 2025 edition.
Here are the dates for the six parades of 2026.
- Sunday 1 February. The opening ceremony and the 1st float parade will be at 3 p.m. Fireworks will follow.
- Saturday 7 February, 2nd float parade by night at 5 p.m.
- Fat Thursday (Thursday before Lent), 12 February, 3rd float parade by night at 5 p.m.
- Sunday 15 February, 4th float parade at 3 p.m.
- Mardi Gras, Tuesday 17 February, the 4th float parade at 3 p.m.
- Saturday 21 February, 6th and final parade at 5 p.m. To follow, the award ceremony for the best float and the Grand Final with fireworks.
Location: Viali a Mare (the main avenues along the beachside).
For more information, visit the official website of the event.
How to buy tickets for the Carnival in Viareggio
If you don’t want to spend time in the queue, you can buy tickets online on the platform Vivatickets. Some people without an Italian phone number had problems finalizing the purchase. If you also experience this problem, do not worry. You can buy tickets directly at the main entrance located in Piazza Mazzini.
As I mentioned, you can easily buy tickets locally. There will be a small queue, but it is not a big issue. While waiting, you can look around and identify the various carnival costumes people wear.
Tickets start from € 22,00 for adults and € 16,50 for kids up to 14 years old. Children up to 1.20 meters tall have free access.
Online tickets are slightly more expensive than those purchased locally. But you can avoid the lines at the ticket office and skip the line at the entrance gates.
How to reach Viareggio for Carnival
The best way to get to Viareggio during the parade days is by train. You can easily arrive by direct train from Florence, Pisa, Lucca, La Spezia, and Cinque Terre. The train station is only 10-15 minutes from the seaside promenade.
Things to know about the Carnevale di Viareggio
Viareggio means Carnevale. It is a serious thing. Carnival is deeply embedded into the culture and history of Viareggio. Of vital importance, I would say. Locals, called “Viareggini”, get mad at Carnival. For the entire period of celebrations, they are like crazy. But this “forever love” never ends. It lasts for the rest of the year too. Just long enough to recover from the orgy of the fun of the last edition that it’s time to think about a new costume for the next year.
The Carnival Floats
Along the avenues, you will see floats of different sizes. There are colossal floats in the 1st category and smaller but still amazing floats in the 2nd category. You will also notice single masks dancing in the street. They all participate in strong competition to win the title of the best creation. On the last day of the Carnevale, a jury of experts declares the winners.
Usually, the topics of the floats are themes of universal relevance like peace or environment. But also political satire, or the triumph of famous international celebrities and sports figures.
The Carnival parades in Viareggio
During the Carnival, you breathe a magic atmosphere into town. Every year, the parades of the Carnevale di Viareggio attract thousands of tourists. They admire the impressive floats, having fun throwing confetti and streamers. No matter what their age. You will find adults and children dressing like princes and princesses, or kings and queens. But also characters from TV and history, cartoons, and animals. The list could go on forever.
It’s also a must-do to get some food from street trucks: cotton candies, fried donuts, fluffy doughnuts filled with cream, or other traditional pastries of Carnival.
Here are two recipes to make your own Dolci di Carnevale of Italian tradition:
The Block Parties. Feste Rionali
When the parade is over, celebrations continue even at night. Most of the suburbs in town (Rioni) host street parties with lots of music, food, and alcohol. Here, people crowd the street wearing funny and odd costumes (homemade or rented for the occasion). With just one goal: to have fun with friends until the morning after. This Carnival craziness ends with the Grand Final after the last parade. The jury proclaims the winners while the fireworks enlighten the calm water of the sea of Versilia.
As soon as the calendar of the street parties is scheduled, we will share it with you.
History of Carnival of Viareggio
The Carnival of Viareggio was born on the 24th of February 1873 on a Mardi Gras, thanks to the initiative of a group of rich young bourgeois.
During one of their usual meetings at the Café of the Casino, they decided to celebrate Carnival with a parade of carriages adorned with flowers, along with the old Via Regia. Instead, some locals wearing colored masks used the parade to protest against the increase in taxes. Since that time, the Carnival parade is also an occasion to exorcize the dissatisfaction of the people.
A few years later, music and motion were introduced on the floats. Then, from 1925, floats were built with the revolutionary technique of paper-mâché.
Year after year, Viareggio Carnival has become increasingly important. This is relevant to the fact that during the 2011 edition, the record of 325,000 spectators in a single parade was reached.
The Mascots of Viareggio Carnival
Carnival of Viareggio has its mascot. His name is Burlamacco. Umberto Bonetti, a local futuristic painter and also designer, invented the character of Burlamacco in 1930. This smiling figure is a mix of elements that characterize other Italian masks of the time. He wears the checkered Harlequin-style costume, with a white button from the French Pierrot. The red and white colors remind me of the tones of beach resort umbrellas by the sea. The white ruff resembles that of Captain Fracassa (or Captain Spaventa). On his head, he wears the hat of Rugantino and wraps himself in the night-black cloak of Doctor Balanzone. He paints his face like a clown, symbolizing laughs and jokes.
In the Carnival poster of 1931, Burlamacco is drawn with a slender female. Ondina is her name, and she represents the typical bathers of the summer season of Viareggio. Burlamacco and Ondina together represent the essence of the city of Viareggio: the Carnival and the Summer.
In 2001 floats and Masks had a new house: the Cittadella del Carnevale. This is where the magic of Carnival comes to life. Inside sixteen huge hangars, artists set their creativity working hard on the new float projects. The vast complex hosts also a museum dedicated to the history of Viareggio’s Carnival and a contemporary art exhibit.
At the Cittadella, we mainly find the hangars where the artists unleash their creativity to design their floats throughout the year. Also located are the Carnival Museum, a large circus tent, educational papier-mâché workshops, and a bistro cafeteria.
The hangars and other buildings are arranged around an elliptical square named after Burlamacco, the mascot of the Viareggio Carnival. The large hangar doors are decorated with giant reproductions of significant posters from the carnival’s history.
Access to Citadel Square is free. However, a ticket must be purchased to visit the museum spaces and participate in educational activities in the workshops.
Carnival faces
Where to stay in Viareggio during the Carnival
To enjoy the crazy Carnival atmosphere of Viareggio at its most, I would recommend spending at least one night in town. So once the parades are over, you can hit the streets again and experience one of the street events organized by the city’s various districts.
- Principe di Piemonte: If you’re looking for a 5-star experience, book a suite at one of the area’s most iconic hotels. A Michelin-starred restaurant and a rooftop infinity pool enhance the facilities.
- Hotel Plaza e de Russie – Relais & Châteaux: Another luxurious hotel facing the seaside promenade in the heart of Viareggio.
- Hotel La Pace: A lovely 3-star hotel overlooking the waterfront. If you book a room with a sea view, you can enjoy the Carnival parade from the comfort of your terrace.
Further Readings
Planning to visit Viareggio and Versilia for Carnival, the following articles may interest you:
- 15 Things to Do in Versilia
- An Exclusive day in Forte dei Marmi
- Pietrasanta, the Little Athens of Tuscany
Pin it for Later!
(Updated on 06.03.2025)
The last (and only) time I’ve been to a carnival of this magnitude was probably when my parents brought me to Mardi Gras when I was 4 years old haha. I would love to check out the festival in the summer as I’m usually in Europe in the summer. Do you know how/when I can book a ticket to the carnival?
For the summer Carnival we have to check year by year, cause the last couple of year they did not organize anything. For sure you will find information on our blog, we use to promote such a kind of events. 🙂
I’ve never really been to a carnival. This one looks a lot of fun, although I’m not sure I would be comfortable travelling in the winter. How different would you say the summer carnival is from this one?
Winter is not that cold in Tuscany. Of course you need a warm jacket! Even summer is not the best period to visit Tuscany, especially the countryside and the cities because it is too hot. The summer carnival is not that different from the winter one. It takes place at night instead of the afternoon because of the temperature. But the real one, the one that locals go crazy for, is the winter one.
It’s so interesting to learn the history of a place as I travel. Like this carnival in Viareggio for people to express their dissatisfaction. The floats are so colorful and would be fun to photograph.
I can’t wait to go the next parade to get great pictures. 🙂
We almost stumbled across the 2022 carnival by accident as we didn’t have the benefit of your excellent website. It was just the best time – an impressive scale and the effort that everyone had gone to was very impressive. We didn’t see any negative attitudes or poor behaviour – it was simply a fantastic experience that we hope to repeat each year now we have found it. Grazie Viareggio!
I will be in Italy for the 2024 carnival! Are there any hotels overlooking the parade route?
Hi Sandee. Here are a few names: Eden, bella pace, riviera, Pardini, President.
i went to the 2014 carnivale, the tank float was my favourite! the john lennon float was also in 2014, best part of the trip and definitely worth visiting!
Dear Wendy, I remember that parade in 2014 and John Lennon’s was my fav too.
WE will be in Florence and thought it would be great to take in the Carnevalle in Via Reggio on february 13 To do so we need some info on the event. First hoiw would we get there by train from Florence. Then what time does the parade start so we can be sure to get there in time to watch it
Hey Richard, many thanks for your comment. Starting times have not yet been made official. But presumably on Feb. 13, the parade will start around 5 p.m.. The easiest way to get there from Florence is by train. You can take a regionale train from Central train station SMN Florence to Viareggio (sometimes it may happen to change train in Pisa). From Viareggio train station in 10 minutes walk you reach the promenade by the sea and the entrance. I suggest you to download trenitalia app and check timetables from it (consider that the exact timetable will be available at the end of the year).
Thank you for the great information. We will be in Florence in February of 2024 and would love to visit the carnivale. Do we have to purchase any tickets and is there any advice that you can offer us, so that we don’t offend anyone or do anything “wrong?” Thanks!
Dear Jeanine, thanks for the comment. There is nothing you can to offend people. Especially for Carnival Time. However, yes, you need to buy a ticket. Online or at the entrance. Advices….if you like to watch fireworks i suggest to go for the last parade when a firework show is set to end the event. There are a few parades at 3 pm which are nice with the good weather because you enjoy the sun and the mild weather of february. Also the night parade are magic too because all the floats turn on the lights when it gets dark and they have a different charme. You can wear a carnival dress if you like, but it is not a must. or a a colored wig. 🙂
Great information!! We hope to go Feb 13 as well. What are the approx times for the parade that day (I know it’s probably not confirmed yet but an estimate will do) … trying to figure out if we should take the train back to Florence that night or try and find accomodations in Viareggio.
Hi Cheryl, on Feb 13 the parade will start at 5 pm and it lasts about 2/3 hours. You can catch the last train to go back to Florence at about 10 pm. However the idea of spend one night in Viareggio is not bad. After the parade there are usually parties in town. You can enjoy the atmosphere with no rush. And the day after, if the weather is nice, take a stroll along the beach. 🙂
Hi, I think sme tickets seated or you can walk and stop in resturants and bars etc. Just looking at the carnival site and the pirces vary for tickets. What do you think is the best option for a first time visitor?
Hi Verity, I would suggest to do not take the seated ticket option. Go for the classic “posto in piedi” ticket and walk around along the promenade by sea where the parade takes place. It is so much funnier than be seated. Unless you don’t want to walk, of course. 🙂
We are just now planning a trip to include the 2/24/24 parade and events. Do the festivities last all weekend? Are there other hotels well situated (not necessarily overlooking the parade, but close) that you can recommend? We would like to be where the action is and walkable to everything.
Hey Kit, thanks for writing. Most of the hotels in Viareggio are located along the promenade by the sea. In the article I suggest three hotels: two luxury hotels and also a lovely 3stars hotel called hotel la Pace.
The carnival seems to go on over a few weeks. Which is the best time to visit?
Hi Simon, if you want to attend to the Carnival Parades in Viareggio, choose one of the 6 dates. You find them in the article.
I am having difficulty purchasing an online ticket. It requires a cell number, but I’m not receiving the code to validate it (maybe an international problem?). Do we face an issue trying to purchase a ticket on the day of the event if we have to wait (does it sell out)?
Dear Carol,
not sure but maybe you are having problems because of the international number. In past years when I participated in the Carnival, I always bought the ticket on the spot. So I wouldn’t worry if you can’t buy online now.
We are planning to attend the carnival on Feb 24, but I am having difficulty purchasing tickets online. If I wait until I am in Italy on Feb 21 to buy tickets for the Feb 24 parade, is there a chance that it is sold out by then?
Dear David, I wouldn’t worry if you can’t buy online now. In past years when I participated in the Carnival, I always bought the ticket on the spot. The website specifies that you can buy both online and on site so there is no risk of early sell-out.
A group of 6 women are going to be in Viareggio on Saturday February 17. I dont thing there is a parade that day. Is there plenty of other sites and experiences to make trip worthwhile
Dear Barbara, thanks for leaving a comment. On Sat 17 there is no parade. However you can enjoy a lovely walk directly on the beach or along the seaside promenade where you also find bars, gelaterie, some restaurant, shops and boutiques. I also suggest to catch a train (or go with the car) to Pietrasanta (10 minutes). It is a lovely arty town with lots of small art galleries and artworks at every corner. The main square with the Duomo is beautiful and you can sit in one of few cafes for an aperitivo or a coffee.
Hi there! We are planning to train from Florence to Viareggio for the 2/24 final parade! We will have 2 children + 1 infant. Is it stroller friendly? Also, how early would you recommend arriving for the 5pm parade? And would you suggest taking a train back about 3 hours later or will the fireworks start much later in the evening? Thank you!
Hi Elisabeth, many thanks for writing. Carnival is full of children having fun. There are also many strollers. As there are thousands of people I would be a little careful and avoiding the crush. The seaside promenade where the parades take place is wide and there will be no problem finding quiet corners for children. I think if you are in Viareggio around 4.30 pm is fine. At the end of the parade there will be the awards ceremony and only after the fireworks. I think around 8/8:30 p.m. So if you want to also attend the fireworks, the best trains are the 9:10 pm or the 10:10 pm train. Wish you a lovely day. Nicola
Salve!
Do you think it would be okay for us to drive to Viareggio for carnevale as far as parking is concerned?
We have tickets for the 13th.
Grazie.
Salve Susanna, To park the car during the days of the carnival is a bit complicated. Also the official website of the event suggests to get to Viareggio by public transportation. If a car is your only option, try to arrive well in advance and take advantage of a tour of the city. During the parade days there is an extra paid parking lot in “Piazzale Papa Paolo VI” but it does not have unlimited capacity.
I was wanting to do this with my fiancée for 2025!! We can’t necessarily afford to stay more than maybe a week in Italy. I wanted to ask if there was an ideal part of the parade to pick??
Hi Sage, thank you very much for the comment. What do you mean by ideal part of the parade to pick? The ticket allows you to enter the carnival circuit and walk around freely without restrictions. My suggestion is not to stand still in one spot.
If you can only go one weekend. Which weekend is it that they usually have the really impressive large floats?
Hi Tanya, every parade on the calendar has big floats. So, choose the weekend that suits you best.
Coming again for 2025 …..SOOOO happy 🙂 We absolutely love this carnival 🙂
Dear Cameron, happy to hear that. 🙂 Let’s see if 2025 Carnival will give you the same good vibes. See you there! 🙂
I’m a sculptor from Sweden, who would love to participate in the carnivale. Are there any possibilities to do that, or is it just for locals?
Hello Johan, thanks for your message. I am not very into the management of the Carnival to give you suggestions. Maybe you could try to contact the Fondazione Carnevale via email and see. Here are the emails: fondazione@ilcarnevale.com or info@ilcarnevale.com. Another option might be coming to Viareggio and visit the Carnival hub to meet some of the artists and people behind the show.
We plan to drive to Viareggio the morning of Sunday, 2nd of March, and have booked rooms at the Palace Hotel.
How close to our hotel will my daughter be permitted to drive just to drop me off?
I can only walk short distances and have a handicap placard for my vehicle.
Dear Frank, many thanks for the message and sorry for the delay. I suggest you to contact Palace Hotel. I am sure they will give you all the information you need.
Hola Nicola.
Vamos del 13 al 16 de Febrero.
El 16 a las 14:00 h tenemos que estar en el aeropuerto de vuelta a Valencia, estoy mirando y los desfiles no me coinciden.
Hay algo más para disfrutar de las fiestas en otros horarios??
Gracias
Hola Olga, qué lástima que no pueda asistir al menos a uno de los desfiles de máscaras. Sí que puede visitar la Ciudadela con sus 16 hangares donde se guardan las carrozas y el Museo del Carnaval. Casi todas las noches en la ciudad hay fiestas con comida y música organizadas por los distritos, pero ahora mismo no tengo el programa.
Hola Olga, he encontrado el programa de las fiestas de carnaval del barrio. El viernes 14 y el sábado 15 de febrero habrá fiesta en el barrio de Marco Polo desde última hora de la tarde hasta bien entrada la noche.
Hi Nicola!
Thanks for your informative and entertaining web page! I have a question: would we be able to rent costumes somewhere locally? We would rather not travel with costumes
🙂
Thanks!
Hi Elaine, there are shops that rent costumes, but usually you have to do it in advance. Will you stay in Viareggio for a few days or only for the day of one of the parades? Otherwise, you can buy wigs or face masks and confetti the day of the parade.
Hi Nicola,
I would like to ask, what is the difference aming the dates and parades of the Carnival?
Besides being in the evening and in the afternoon? The opening ceremony is the biggest one or the closing one?
The 16 Febr is as grandiosa as the 2 March ?
Thanks a lot in advance,Victoria
Dear Victoria, the main difference between early afternoon parades (starting at 3 pm) and the evening ones (starting at 5 pm) is the look of the floats. When it gets dark they turn on the lights giving a complete different feeling to the float itself and to the show. Nothing changes between the parade on Feb 16 and March 2. For locals the most important parade is the last one when there will be the prize ceremony for the best float, and the final fireworks.