Venetian Carnival on Easter Monday

The Carnevale di Venezia, which is being supported by Southern Water, will include a twist on the Venetian gondola, an enactment of Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’, a display of Italian super cars, Venetian style masks, a wine tasting tour of local bars and pubs, plus much more.

Nigel Fitzsimmons, business development officer from Horsham District Council, says: “This is the fifth year that we have held the Piazza Italia, our annual festival celebrating all things Italian, and we are sure that the Carnevale di Venezia on Easter Monday will really catch people’s imagination.

“We would like to thank Southern Water for kindly sponsoring the Carnevale di Venezia and look forward to welcoming their Water Café, which will be promoting easy ways to save water, to the Carfax.”

There will be a gondola cruising around the town centre, a performance of the world’s best known love story ‘Romeo and Juliet’ from a town centre balcony, and anyone who has made a Venetian mask to mark the celebrations will have the chance to win a prize for the best creation. Horsham Museum will be running mask making workshops during the build up to the Piazza Italia event.

What’s more, there will be a display of some fantastic Italian cars, including Ferraris, De Tomasos, Maseratis, Lamborghinis, Alfa Romeos and Zondas, as well as Ducati motorbikes and classic and modern Minis.

Darren Bentham is the Director of Southern Water’s metering programme. He adds: “We are delighted to be sponsoring the Carnevale di Venezia.

“We are keen to support the communities where we are currently working to install new water meters.

“Our Water Café will be in the Carfax on the day to give out advice and information on using water efficiently, as well as answer questions about our metering programme.

“Metering is regarded by many people as a fairer system for charging as you pay for what you use.

“With the South East classed by the Government as an ‘area of water stress’, metering is an important part of our long term strategy to manage water resources for the future.”

Venetian masks made and worn as part of the celebrations can be handed in at Horsham Museum (9, The Causeway) between 11am and 3.30pm on Easter Monday, 25 April 2011.

There will be prizes for the most creative masks and the best ones will also feature as part of an exhibition.

Take a look at what happened at previous Piazza Italia events and what is proposed for 2011 at www.piazza-italia.co.uk

For more information regarding Southern Water’s metering programme visit www.southernwater.co.uk/metering or contact the Metering Customer Call Centre on 0333 2003 011.