AP PHOTOS: Venice Carnival opens with biodegradable streamers and an ode to Casanova

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VENICE, Italy (AP) — The opening weekend of Carnival in Venice culminated with a water procession along the Grand Canal that finished in front of the Rialto Bridge with a flourish of colorful streamers and confetti — all completely biodegradable.

Venice’s Carnival brings thousands of people to the lagoon city to watch the water procession, one of the event’s highlights, and check out people in elaborate costumes and masks who wander the narrow alleys and gather in Piazza St. Marco to be photographed.

The popular event forces authorities to designate some alleyways as one-way, to keep pedestrians moving.

This year’s Carnival celebrations, which run through March 4, are dedicated to the famed philanderer Giacomo Casanova, who was born in Venice 300 years ago.