Venice Design Week 2026

Venice Design Week 2026 runs from 9 to 18 October 2026. Its core is four curated selections: jewellery, lighting, interiors and tableware. Each is shown in a different building, from Palazzo Nani on the Cannaregio canal to the Museum of Oriental Art at Ca' Pesaro. Around them, the programme adds talks, two workshops, and guided tours of archives and glass collections.

The 2026 theme is "100%". The festival is organised by Arte e Design Venezia, a cultural association based on the Lido, and has been held every October since 2010.

About the Festival

Venice Design Week has no fair hall or central pavilion. Its venues are spread across the city: palaces, museums, a church, design shops, artisans' workshops and artists' studios, each reached on foot or by vaporetto. The official map links every venue to its nearest waterbus stop.

The 2026 theme is "100%", which the organisers describe as a working method built on "responsibility, precision, respect, and slowness". Instead of presenting a finished object only through images and text, each participating designer shows a percentage breakdown of what went into the work, from its components up to 100%.

Designers apply to take part, and the jewellery section is a competition. For 2026, 183 entrants applied, and a second selection round chose 19 designers from 12 countries, including Brazil, Estonia, Iran, South Korea and Australia, as well as Italy. Next to the selections, the festival lists "collateral" exhibitions by independent studios and institutions, and a network of design boutiques and workshops in the city that are open all year.

What to Expect

• VDW Jewelry Selection: 19 jewellery designers, among them Anneli Tammik (Estonia), Mina Saneei (Iran), Sonja Čerić Žura (Croatia) and the Italian studio FLUXIS. It is shown at Etnia House of Arts, in the church of the Abbazia della Misericordia (Campo de l'Abbazia 3550).
• VDW Light Selection: lamps and lighting by 12 designers and studios, including Hangar Design Group, Francesco Lucchese, Boah Nova and FabLab Venezia, on the piano nobile of Palazzo Nani (Fondamenta Cannaregio 1105).
• VDW Interior Design – Home Accessories: objects for the home at Combo Venezia (Campo dei Gesuiti 4878). Combo also hosts most of the talks.
• Geographies of Tableware – Contemporary design between Europe and Asia: tableware by seven designers, including Triptych Kyoto, Tongqi Lu and Brigitta B. Horváth, at the National Museum of Oriental Art, Ca' Pesaro (Santa Croce 2076), from 29 September to 8 November.
• The Magic of Matter: the Amberif Design Award exhibition of Baltic amber, at Palazzo Pisani S. Marina (Calle de le Erbe 6103).
• N-Conventional Chairs: an installation by Marco De Gregorio in the Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista (San Polo 2454).
• I Don't Shine, I Have Something to Say: an exhibition curated by Eleonora Varotto at the Fondazione Querini Stampalia (Castello 5252), with a capsule jewellery collection by Max Valter (Sweden). It is open until 25 October.

2026 Programme

Talks (booking via Eventbrite):

• Sat 10 Oct, 16:00: Amber Baltic World, Combo Venezia
• Sat 10 Oct, 17:00: Beyond colour: meaning, perception and design, curated by Anna Charlotte Rosenberg Bosten, Combo Venezia
• Sun 11 Oct, 11:30: Baltic Amber Award presentation (Amberif Design Award 2026), Palazzo Pisani S. Marina
• Thu 15 Oct, 16:30: Lo spazio che cura (The Healing Space), on design quality and wellbeing in living spaces, IUAV Terese, Dorsoduro 2206 (in Italian)
• Fri 16 Oct, 18:00: 100% Intentional: What Renaissance Households Teach Us About Design, with Cameron Bird, Combo Venezia

Guided tours (booking required unless noted):

• Fondo Storico, the historical archive of the Accademia di Belle Arti: Wed 14 Oct at 11:00 and 13:30, Fondamenta Zattere allo Spirito Santo 423
• 1948–1958 Murano Glass and the Venice Biennale, at Le Stanze del Vetro on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore: Sat 17 and Sun 18 Oct at 11:00 (English and Italian) and 16:00 (Italian); no booking link is listed
• San Servolo Island and its museum: Sat 17 Oct at 15:30 (Italian) and 16:30 (English)
• Light Selection at Palazzo Nani: 12, 14, 17 and 18 Oct (the 18 Oct tour at 10:30 is in English)
• Geographies of Tableware at Ca' Pesaro: in English on 13 and 16 Oct at 15:30 and 17 Oct at 11:00; in Italian on 15 Oct at 11:00 and 18 Oct at 15:30
• Urban Trekking, starting from Combo Venezia: Sat 17 Oct at 9:30

Workshops, both by FabLab Venezia at The HuB – Human Bits in Mestre, on the mainland:

• Mon 12 Oct, 18:00: Plug&Display, a parametric display system
• Tue 13 Oct, 17:00: Crash Baggage, contemporary Made in Italy

Who Is It For?

The 2026 programme is built around objects and making. Jewellery has the largest selection, with 19 designers, plus a jewellery tour of goldsmiths' workshops and Max Valter's collection at the Querini Stampalia. Lighting, home accessories and tableware account for most of the other exhibitions.

That makes the festival most relevant to jewellery and product designers, ceramicists and makers, and to interior designers looking for lighting and accessories. Glass is covered through the Le Stanze del Vetro tour, and archives and heritage through the Accademia di Belle Arti and San Servolo visits. Graphic designers will find less: no section of the 2026 programme is dedicated to graphic or visual communication.

Tickets

Venice Design Week does not sell a festival pass. Each part of the programme has its own conditions:

• Guided tours, talks, workshops and Meet the Designers events need advance registration through the Eventbrite links on the official programme pages. Places are limited.
• Geographies of Tableware is inside the Museum of Oriental Art at Ca' Pesaro, so entry requires a museum ticket.
• Artists' open studios, such as Bottega Venice Art by Carlo Favaro (Castello 3394), are by appointment or reservation.

The official site does not publish admission prices for the other exhibitions; check each venue before you go.

Things to Know

• Hours differ by venue. The main exhibitions open 10:00–13:00 and 14:00–18:00. The Jewelry Selection closes at 17:00. Ca' Pesaro (10:00–17:00) and the Querini Stampalia exhibition are closed on Mondays.
• Two venues are on separate islands. Le Stanze del Vetro is on San Giorgio Maggiore and San Servolo is in the lagoon, so each needs its own vaporetto trip. The FabLab workshops are in Mestre, on the mainland.
• Group venues by area. Palazzo Nani, Combo Venezia, Etnia House of Arts and Palazzo Pisani S. Marina are all in Cannaregio, near the Guglie, Fondamente Nove and Ca' d'Oro waterbus stops, so they fit into one day.
• Check the timetable the day before. The organisers say times can change and recommend reloading the online calendar or downloading the printable PDF programme.
• Some exhibitions run beyond the festival. Geographies of Tableware stays open until 8 November and I Don't Shine, I Have Something to Say until 25 October.

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The calendar, the printable programme, the venue map and the booking links are on the official Venice Design Week website.

Looking for more to see? Browse all events, festivals and exhibitions on Good Stuff Weekly.

Last verified: October 10, 2026