The program of events for the holidays has been presented. On Sunday 27 November the inauguration of the Christmas Village, Saturday 3 December of the Ice Nativity and on 8 December the curtain rises on the Jesolo Sand Nativity. The historic center becomes the heart of the celebrations for 2023 with the New Year in the square.
Jesolo becomes… City of Christmas. The municipal administration today presented the schedule of events that will animate streets and squares during the upcoming holidays, starting from Saturday 26 November until Sunday 8 January and beyond with the Jesolo Sand Nativity which will close its doors to visitors only on the evening of Sunday 5th February. "Jesolo City of Christmas" is the new format chosen by the administration to involve residents and guests through new ways of managing spaces but also attractions. An articulated and complex project which, together with the name, was also given a shared image thanks to the common graphics and the brands dedicated to each great appointment, also presented during this morning's appointment.
The ribbon cutting of the Christmas Village will officially inaugurate the Christmas City, scheduled for Sunday 27 November even if the traditional houses that compose it will be open to visitors starting from the previous Saturday. The Christmas route will develop along via Silvio Trentin, between piazza Mazzini and piazza Aurora up to the intersection with via Leon Battista Alberti, and will consist of 70 wooden houses that will exhibit objects and food and wine, to which they add the refreshment points which, however, will represent less than 40% of the spaces present. The two squares will act as poles of fun for the whole family, starting with Santa's house which this year was set up in piazza Aurora. Indeed, this will be a new focal point of the village with the animation entrusted to Daiana Orfei.
But the Lido di Jesolo will be embellished with another important event, which has now become a tradition for the city: Jesolo Sand Nativity. This year the famous sand nativity scene is hosted in the new location behind Piazza Brescia, in a large tensile structure where the "Sculptures of Peace", the title chosen for the works of this edition, are taking shape these days. The curtain on the Jesolo Sand Nativity will rise Thursday 8 December, the day of the Immaculate Conception, in the presence of the patriarch of Venice, Francesco Moraglia, and of the vicar bishop of Kiev, Oleksandr Yazlovetskyi, to whom the Light of Peace of Bethlehem will be delivered. To welcome visitors, who will have free access to the exhibition from Friday 9 December, will be "The winged lion of Vaia", a wooden work created for the occasion by the sculptor Marco Martalar: an imposing sculpture made with waste spruce elements and beech scraps collected in the woods of the Dolomites, felled by the storm Vaia in 2018. To greet the Jesolo Sand Nativity, and to thank the artists who gave it concrete form, it will be a concert scheduled on 4 February, at 9.00 pm, at the church of San Giovanni Battista.
Space for art also in piazza Milano, where the works of the master Sergio Dalla Mora will be exhibited. A series of skilfully modeled stones, about 15 centimeters in size each, will make up nativities that will be placed in an enchanting setting thanks to an ad hoc scenography that will develop along the steps of the arena that characterize the square.
In the historic center, then, the presence of another wonderful nativity scene is consolidated: that of the artists of the Accademia Italia Ghiaccio Artistico. The large case that houses the ephemeral sculptures of the nativity in Piazza Kennedy has been doubled and enclosed in a tensile structure, which can be visited from 3 December to 8 January, where a camera will be installed that will broadcast the show created live by artists.
The Christmas City will not only nourish the body but also the soul thanks to numerous cultural events. A dense musical review will be opened on Thursday 8 December by the Kairos Vox choir who, under the direction of Alberto Pelosin, will sing in the church of Piazza Trieste with the Mascioni organ. Among the most anticipated appointments, the Antonella Ruggiero concert with the Accademia Musicale Naomis, conducted by Valter Sivilotti, on December 26th at the Vivaldi theater, and that of New Year with the Bazzini Consort Orchestra conducted by Aram Khacheh, also at Vivaldi. The festival will close on the day of Epiphany, the performance of the Veneto metropolitan choir, Enrico Segattini Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Maestro Mauro Perissinotto and the collaboration of the chorister Gianni Rossi, in the church of San Giovanni Battista.
The return of New Year's Eve in the square will mark the transition between the old year and the new year, with a concert that will enliven piazza Kennedy. Right in the heart of the historic center of Jesolo, in fact, the administration wanted to establish the moment that marks the transition to 2023. It will be the DJs of Radio Bella & Monella, on the stage set up close to via Donizetti, from 10pm to 2am, to make everyone present dance with their music while at midnight the square will stop to welcome the new year with a fireworks display.
A few hours after the dawn of a new year, finally, a group of intrepid ones will challenge the cold waters of the sea with "New Year's Dive" organized by Just Friends Onlus, moment which has become traditional and joins the numerous others during which the association raises funds to be donated to charity in favor of children and adolescents with rare genetic diseases and disabilities. Another moment of conviviality that returns after the forced stop imposed by the health measures connected to the pandemic in past years. The charity objective is also the one set by the Christmas Run, scheduled for December 18, which will animate the streets of the beach with the participants (non-competitive race) dressed as Santa Claus.
