In December, Venice doesn’t so much “change its skin” as it simply lights up. Not only with the Christmas tree in St Mark’s Square or the shopfronts, but through a city-wide programe that winds through calli and campi, reaches the islands, and continues all the way to Epiphany. “Venezia. It’s Christmas Time”, promoted by the City of Venice, brings festive illuminations, light installations, markets and events to the city and the lagoon, designed to be enjoyed without an over-planned itinerary. Step outside, and let the lights do the guiding.
This year the display is particularly striking: around 50 kilometres of festive lighting and 26 three-dimensional installations, for a total of over 4,000 light elements across the municipality, all using low-consumption LED technology.
St Mark’s Square: Christmas on a Grand Scale, the Venetian Way
The visual heart of the season remains St Mark’s, especially on those evenings when the square empties just enough to reveal its particular winter elegance. It’s also here that one of the most anticipated moments of the festive period takes place each year: the Christmas tree lighting, which feels less like an event and more like a small shared ritual. In the 2025 programe, it was scheduled for Saturday 22 November at 6.30pm, preceded by the opening of “Murano Lights Up the World” at 5.30pm, two back-to-back moments that naturally turn St Mark’s into the starting point for the first “official” walk through the city’s lights. Music sets the pace too: the Vocal Skyline ensemble accompanies the lighting, warming the atmosphere without any need for spectacle.
From that point on, St Mark’s becomes the perfect backdrop for a December made of simple, memorable moments: pausing for a few minutes to listen to a choir, crossing the square, then drifting towards Rialto with no fixed route, slipping into quieter calli and suddenly finding familiar views that, under the festive illuminations, feel newly discovered.
And if you’d like to add a proper evening engagement to your stroll, December is also a season of concerts. Between the churches of the historic centre, Christmas programmes and nights at the theatres, music becomes a distinctly Venetian way of stepping into the spirit of the holidays. Sometimes all it takes is choosing a date, and letting the day arrange itself around it.
“Murano Lights Up the World”: Twelve Chandeliers in St Mark’s Square (Through March)
One of the most striking sights of the season is “Murano Lights Up the World”, which turns St Mark’s Square into an open-air gallery with twelve glass chandeliers, on view from 21 November 2025 to 1 March 2026. The concept is beautifully simple: you walk through the square, look up, and Venice reminds you, quietly but unmistakably, that craftsmanship here is not folklore, but identity.
What makes the project work so well is precisely this: it stages, in one of the city’s most iconic settings, a story that is both ancient and tangible, the story of Murano glass. The tradition begins in 1291, when glass furnaces were moved from Venice to the island of Murano, officially to reduce the risk of fire in a city largely built of timber, but also to concentrate and safeguard a specialised craft that was already an extraordinary economic asset.
Over the centuries, Murano glass became a language of its own: not merely goblets and decorative objects, but light, especially once it entered palazzi, grand salons and theatres. The Venetian chandelier, and later the elaborate “lampadario alla muranese” with its floral motifs, scrolling leaves and intricate arms, came to symbolise both prestige and spectacle, made possible by master glassmakers capable of shaping forms that are at once complex and remarkably delicate.
This is where the contemporary project feels particularly well judged: rather than relying on conventional festive lighting, it draws directly on Murano’s own tradition of illumination, showing author-designed chandeliers beneath the Procuratie in St Mark’s Square and, in doing so, bringing Murano back into focus as a living place, not a souvenir. The initiative is promoted by The Venice Glass Week in collaboration with the City of Venice: in essence, an international platform that creates a dialogue between master glassmakers, historic maisons, artists and designers, and places craftsmanship back at the very centre of the city’s cultural narrative.
Right into the Festive Buzz: Skating in Venice’s Largest Campo
If there is one uncomplicated way to step fully into the December mood, it’s this: lace up and take to the ice, quite literally, in Campo San Polo, the largest square in Venice, which for the season becomes lively in a way it rarely is at other times of year. Here you’re not watching from the sidelines; you’re part of the scene, laughter, the occasional graceful turn (or not), a little music, and that good-natured bustle that makes the holidays feel real.
The best part is the contrast: proper ice laid in a historic campo, framed by houses, a church, and everyday Venetian life. And as you circle the rink, it becomes clear that December in Venice isn’t only about walking beneath the lights, it’s also about choosing a moment like this, light-hearted and slightly childlike, right in the heart of the city. The rink is open from 29 November 2025 to 17 February 2026, making it just as appealing for a January stay, when Venice feels calmer still.
Markets and Antiques: The Best Gifts Are the Ones You Stumble Upon
Campo Santo Stefano: Where Christmas Becomes a Happier Kind of Purchase
For those who prefer a market in the historic centre that you can simply come across, rather than set out to find, Campo Santo Stefano is a natural stop: wooden chalets, a restrained atmosphere, and a selection of gift ideas that genuinely makes sense here. The stalls tend to focus on local craftsmanship and small pieces that travel well: Murano-glass ornaments, hand-painted masks, lace details, leather accessories, and other handmade finds. It’s the right place when the aim isn’t to buy more, but to choose better, something discovered almost by accident, while strolling between St Mark’s and Rialto.
Weekend 12–14 December: A Double Stop in Murano and Burano
Over the weekend of 12–14 December, the northern lagoon offers one of the season’s most satisfying combinations: a festive atmosphere, genuine craftsmanship, and the pleasure of a small detour “off the beaten path” from the historic centre. In Murano, from Friday 12 to Sunday 14 (10.00am–6.00pm), the market in the Bressagio (Faro) area is a lovely opportunity to browse handmade objects and small artisanal pieces, with the added interest of local produce, such as honey made on the island, details that shift the experience from souvenir-shopping to something more considered.
In Burano, on the same dates (10.30am–6.30pm), the market takes place in the Pescheria area, with more than twenty exhibitors. Here, the setting does half the work: canals, colour, and a more intimate scale make it a pleasure simply to wander through at an unhurried pace. On Sunday, there is also a family-friendly moment with a visit from Father Christmas, a light touch that doesn’t disrupt the island’s character, but makes it feel especially welcoming for those travelling with children.
Weekends 13–14 and 20–21 December: The Lido’s “Island of Christmas”
On the weekends of 13–14 and 20–21 December, the Lido offers a version of Christmas quite unlike the historic centre: less “postcard”, more lived-in, an island that is still unmistakably Venice, yet with a different pace. The Island of Christmas brings together markets, music and a scatter of seasonal initiatives in a setting that encourages you to slow down: a walk along the waterfront, then an easy stop among the stalls. It’s an excellent choice for those who wish to stay within the Municipality of Venice while stepping away, for a few hours, from the more predictable routes, returning to something calmer, more spacious, and almost local in feel.
Natale ai Bochaleri (18–20 December 2025): Venetian Ceramics with Live Demonstrations
From Thursday 18 to Saturday 20 December 2025, Venice hosts “Natale ai Bochaleri”, a market-exhibition dedicated to Venetian ceramic artisans, with live demonstrations that make it feel closer to an open studio than a conventional market. Part of the “Le Città in Festa” programme, it is curated by the Associazione Bochaleri and held at their headquarters at Castello 1257, from 10.00am to 5.00pm.
The emphasis is distinctly artisanal and cultural. On Thursday 18, the day begins with two in-depth sessions: at 12.00, Giuliana Rolli presents “La porcellana classica in Europa”, a third-firing decoration demonstration; at 15.00, Meri Cengiarotti introduces “Sculture d’uso”, working on a piece that brings everyday function into conversation with formal research. On Friday 19 at 14.00, Nadia Saponaro offers “Il tornio dalla tecnica alla creatività. Dimostrazione e concept”, showing how technical mastery becomes design and intent. Saturday 20 is dedicated to the market itself—best enjoyed unhurriedly, choosing an object to take home as a piece of contemporary Venetian making, closer to a story than to a souvenir.
Christmas on the Water: The Santa Claus Boat Parade (21 December)
Some occasions, more than others, capture Venice without requiring a single explanation. The Corteo Acqueo dei Babbi Natale is one of them. On Sunday 21 December 2025, the Grand Canal becomes a natural stage for a procession of hundreds of rowers in red, aboard the traditional boats of Venetian rowing culture. The gathering point is in the Punta della Dogana area, with the parade making its way towards Rialto, a route that cuts through the city’s heart and, for once, returns it to its most authentically lagoon-born dimension.
The pleasure is that it asks very little of you. Choose a vantage point, a quiet fondamenta, a bridge, a bend in the Grand Canal, and simply wait. When the corteo arrives, with light on the water and the sound of oars, Venice does what it does best: it turns a popular tradition into an act of effortless elegance, entirely in keeping with its history as a city made for the water.
Between New Year’s Eve and Epiphany: Venice in Light and Quiet
Between late December and early January, Venice shifts pace without losing its atmosphere. On New Year’s Eve, for those who want a distinctly Venetian celebration in the most essential sense, everything is drawn towards the Bacino di San Marco: as midnight strikes, fireworks bloom over the water and, for a few minutes, redraw the city’s perspective, an effect far removed from the logic of a crowded square, and much closer to Venice’s own idea of natural theatre.
And this is precisely where the season becomes most interesting, because it doesn’t end with Christmas. Events and initiatives continue through Epiphany, and January often proves the most intelligent moment for those who prefer Venice without embellishment. The lights remain, the air is crisp, museums and churches can be visited at an unhurried pace, and even the simplest pleasures, a long walk, a stop at a bacaro, a carefully chosen dinner, take on a different quality: quieter, more authentic, as though the city were finally allowing itself to be properly lived in.
Even When You’re Away, the Christmas Spirit Still Feels Real
And we, at The Red House Company, fully embrace this season too. In a selection of our apartments, we choose to put up a Christmas tree and add a few thoughtful festive touches, not to create a “set”, but to offer a simple, very tangible kind of welcome: that subtle feeling you get when you step inside, set down your suitcase, and, even far from your usual routines, sense immediately that you’re exactly where you should be.
For many, Christmas is made of rituals: a light switched on in just the right place, a sprig of greenery, a detail chosen with care. When travelling, it’s easy to leave all of that behind, as though the holidays belonged only to one’s own home. We prefer to think the opposite: that the spirit of Christmas can accompany a stay in Venice too, and that a home, even if it isn’t yours, can, for a few days, become a place where the season is fully felt and properly lived, with the same ease and naturalness as the city itself.
