Gondolas race in Venezia’s Canale della Giudecca during the yearly regata held for the Festa del Redentore, which commemorates the end of the plague epidemic of 1575-1577 that killed more than a third of the city’s population.

Traditionally celebrated with fireworks and wild boat parties, this year’s celebrations were mostly cancelled because of the ongoing pandemic, yet hundreds of Venetians defied social distancing regulations and gathered on the banks of the Giudecca to cheer the gondolieri who competed in this gruelling boat race.