Venice Film Festival and Historic Regatta

Venice's acclaimed international film festival is underway and Venice is full of celebrities. The Venice Film Festival is one of the biggest international film festivals and includes films competing for the Golden Lion Award, screenings of out-of-competition films, short films, and new trends in cinema. This year's festival, the 64th annual, runs August 29-September 8. It's still possible to buy tickets for some of the screenings. Full schedule and details are available on La Biennale di Venezia and About's guide to World/Independent Films has information about some of the films.

If you enjoy following the foreign film festival circuit, watch for the 10 day Milano Film Festival starting September 14 and the Rome Film Fest coming in October. For those of you at home, why not take a look at these top Italian Movies to get you in the mood for Italian travel.

Tomorrow Venice also hosts one of the biggest September festivals in Italy, the Regatta Storica, historic boat race. The exciting races, where competitors race on Venice's Grand Canal in four categories, are preceded by a beautiful parade of boats along the Grand Canal. The Regatta Storica was started in 1315 and is one of Venice's most traditional celebrations.

Get the scoop on these festivals and see what other Italian celebrations September holds in store with our September Festivals in Italy.

Venice Travel Resources: Venice Travel Profile | Venice Pictures
Italian Film Festival Cities: Milan Travel Essentials | Rome Travel Essentials

^{Photo of Venice's Grand Canal © 2006 by Martha Bakerjian, licensed to about.com}