To watch the traditional flight of the angel, a highlight of the annual Venice Carnival, some 70,000 revellers, many wearing elaborate costumes and masks, thronged Venice's St Mark's Square.
![Annual Venice Carnival Attracts Hordes of Foreign and Italian Tourists Annual Venice Carnival Attracts Hordes of Foreign and Italian Tourists](https://www.medindia.net/afp/images/Lifestyle-Brazil-festival-Carnival-227649.jpg)
The centuries-old Venice Carnival, rooted in Christian festivities ahead of the fasting period of Lent, attracts hordes of foreign and Italian tourists to its masked balls and theatrical performances.
Nadia, a visitor in her 40s from the northeastern Italian town of Biella, said the revelry helps people to forget Italy's financial crisis, at least for a while. "Once a year we forget everything, we have fun, otherwise life has no meaning," she told AFP-TV.
The event, which began on January 26, winds up on February 12.
Source-AFP