Since a few years, the Venetians begins their Carnival with a funny parody of the "Flight of the Angel", the official opening of the Venetian Carnival, when a celebrity descends into St Mark's Square on a cable from the top of the tower. One week before, the locals propose a more popular version of the show: after a colorful boat parade, a big rat made of paper mâché descends from the main bridge of Cannaregio, the most populated Venetian district. When the beast reaches the water the crowd takes the chance of tasting free and delightful food of the typical Venetian cuisine, served along the banks.
The rat is unfortunately protagonist of the lagoon life, but it could be considered as the symbol of the hardest part of the Venetian nature, the one that never dies.