MAIN Travel Popular Chicago Tourist Attractions Venetian Nights

Every year since the event first began in 1958, Chicago has come together to celebrate and take in the amazing displays of Venetian Night.

Originally, Venetian night was just one part of the Chicago Lakefront festival. The Lakefront Festival was eventually scrapped, but the boat parade was so popular that it lived on in Venetian Night, which has survived over fifty years and is now an established part of the Chicago festivities calendar.

This year, watch for the launch of the 52nd annual Venetian Night on Saturday evening July 25, 2009 at 8:30PM, preceded by a dramatic flyover by the civilian aerobatic team Lima Lima.

Venetian Night in Chicago is the oldest event sponsored by the city. It is both named and modeled after the ever popular boat parades in Venice, which are typically a Christmas event in Venice, while the Chicago Venetian Night is a summer festival usually taking place in late July.

In the Chicago version of the event, many grand boats, usually numbering 30 or more, outfit themselves in amazing light displays and various decorations and form a parade line, which tours the Chicago waterfront on Lake Michigan, starting at the Shedd Aquarium and finishing the night at the Chicago Yacht Club.

The boats stay close to shore, and dazzle the many spectators who come out to watch the impressive parade of boats go past.

The festivities don't stop there though. Chicago's Venetian Night also features a marvelous fireworks display, which is set to the timing of music played by local radio station WXRT (93.1) and is in itself a hugely popular event. In all, the various festivities of Venetian Night attract more than half a million people from Chicago and the surrounding area, making it an immensely popular event.

More about Venetian Night around the Web:

Venetian Night - Travel & information guide from Chicago's official tourism site with this year's schedule, photos, maps & directions.

Venetian Night in Brief - About.com guide with background info, how to get there, parking information and related Chicago travel resources.

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