Your first impression will probably be that Venice doesn't live much at night. As the last bit of daylight slips away, so, too, does the noise of an active if not busy town. Boat traffic drops to the occasional passing vaporetto, shutters roll down, and signs go dark. Even most bacari (wine bars), which seem like natural spots for after-hours gathering, turn out the lights around 9 PM. But there is a night scene in Venice, subtly spread among many neighborhood locali (nightspots) that stay open until 1 or 2 AM, many with live music. Still, things never get too wild, except perhaps during Carnevale. There are no venues suited to loud concerts and few options for dancing on weeknights. Aside from the piano bars, nightlife tends to be student oriented.
Venice is a stop for major traveling exhibits, from Maya art to contemporary art retrospectives. In odd years, usually from mid- or late June to early November, the Biennale dell'Arte draws the work of several hundreds of contemporary international artists. Classical music buffs can rely on a rich season of concerts, opera, chamber music, and some ballet performed at the Palafenice theater. Minor venues and churches offer less-expensive shows, often focusing on Venetian Baroque music. There is no English-language theater or cinema in Venice, but during Carnevale foreign companies act in their mother tongue, and all movies participating in the Biennale del Cinema are shown in the original language, which most often happens to be English.
Most nightspots fit into three categories. The so-called osterie musicali offer full meals, cicheti (little savory snacks), beer, inexpensive wine, and live music several nights a week. Many of them also serve as galleries for local artists, whose paintings decorate the walls and are for sale. Then there are the English- and Irish-style pubs, with beer on tap and occasional live music, which are especially popular with the younger crowd. Finally, there are the late-night cafés and piano bars that offer more nocturnal diversion.
For a detailed listing of what's going on, pick up the monthly Venezia News from a newsstand. It has plenty of information in English about concerts, opera, ballet, theater, exhibitions, movies, sports, sightseeing, and a useful "Servizi" section with late-night pharmacies, operating hours for the busiest vaporetto and bus lines, and a listing of the main trains and flights from Venice. The tourist office puts out Venezia da Vivere (www.veneziadavivere.it), a seasonal brochure in Italian with weekly listings of what's going on in most of the nightspots. More entertainment and lifestyle information can be found in Meeting Venice (www.meetingvenice.it), Leo Bussola, and Un Ospite di Venezia (www.aguestinvenice.com), all in Italian with English translations. They are free and available at the tourist office.
