The countdown has begun: with avid anticipation, many people are awaiting 1st September and the annual Venice regatta.

I love regattas. Near my home in Ste Maxime, France, many regattas take place, and I love to sit in my garden and watch the sails drifting against the blue, blue sky and the blue, blue sea (see the picture).

And Venice is so in my mind now – with the fast-approaching publication of my second novel, The Echoes of Love, which opens in this ancient and beautiful city – that I just had to write about the wonderful event that takes place there the first Sunday of September each year: the Regata Storica.

One of the main draws of the regatta is its long history, for the very first was held in the city in 1315. The event comprises two sections: a historical parade and rowing boat races.

The parade is a vibrant, colourful procession, in which members of the Venetian rowing clubs take to the water to commemorate, Caterina Cornaro, Queen of Cyprus, coming to Venice, having renounced her throne in favour of Venice. They wear brocade costumes and row stunning, elaborately carved boats based on the 16th-century crafts. At the head of the procession is the famous Bucintoro, the state galley of the doges of Venice that was traditionally used in the Marriage of the Sea ceremony that wedded Venice to the sea each year on the Festa della Sensa (Ascension Day).

Next come the races, which are only for Venetian residents. There are races for young people (the pupparini), for women (mascarete), and for men (caorline and, for the champions, gondolini). The bracketed words indicate the boats used for each race, variations on the traditional gondola.

Thousands of people line the banks of the Grand Canal to watch the event from the banks, from floating stands and from boats moored along the race route, and the atmosphere in the city that day is electric, with plenty of cheering and shouting.

For pictures of this enthralling event, visit:

http://www.regatastoricavenezia.it/mg.php?fg=2012&pg=2&lang=it http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/picturegalleries/7984420/The-Historical-Regatta-of-Venice-in-pictures.html

http://venicexplorer.net/tradizione/storica.php?hlangs=en

If you can visit, I heartily recommend that you do so. It’s really an inspiring and delightful regatta.