Celebrities on superyachts arrive in Venice this week for Amazon tycoon Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez’s three-day wedding extravaganza, despite angry residents who claim the UNESCO city is not a billionaire’s playground.
The software magnate and journalist are reportedly inviting roughly 200 guests to their multi-million dollar wedding in the Italian city, which is set to begin Thursday and culminate Saturday with a ceremony at a secret location.
The security specifics are being kept under wraps, although reports suggest that the rite will take place at the old Church of the Abbey of Misericordia or at the Arsenale, a large shipyard complex dating back to the city’s naval powerhouse days.
Bezos, 61, and former news anchor Sanchez, 55, are rumoured to have booked out the city’s finest hotels for a star-studded guest list that includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Mick Jagger, Kim Kardashian, Oprah Winfrey, Orlando Bloom, and Ivanka Trump.
At least 95 private planes have requested permission to land at Venice’s Marco Polo airport, according to the Corriere della Sera. Bezos’ mega-yacht, Koru, is expected to moor off the iconic San Giorgio.
The opulent celebration has generated much soul-searching in Venice, where some fear that the influx of A-list visitors and their entourages would exacerbate the city’s already heavy tourist traffic.
During peak seasons, approximately 100,000 tourists stay overnight, while tens of thousands visit for the day, many disembarking from cruise ships for a quick Bellini cocktail, while the city becomes depopulated.
Venice joyfully hosted Hollywood actor George Clooney’s star-studded wedding 11 years ago, but critics claim Bezos — one of the world’s wealthiest men and founder of a corporation often criticised for how it treats its employees — is different.
Greenpeace condemned billions spent on hedonistic partying while the vulnerable metropolis is “sinking under the weight of the climate crisis” as activists questioned the guests’ carbon footprint.
Sanchez has also been chastised for stating that more needs to be done to combat climate change while also participating in a space voyage in April on a rocket created by Bezos‘ space company Blue Origin.
Activists hung a big banner outside St Mark’s on Monday, with a photo of Bezos laughing and a sign reading: “If you can rent Venice for your wedding, you can pay more tax”.
Built on lagoon islands, the city has implemented a contentious day-trip ticket policy, but locals argue that more has to be done to preserve local businesses and address the housing situation.
Tommaso Cacciari, 47, the leader of the No Space for Bezos organisation, stated that the demonstrators oppose “the use of Venice as if it were a very private ballroom, rather than a real city with inhabitants, frailties, and problems”.
He told AFP that such celebrations were “condemning Venice to a definitive death” by pushing off surviving locals, but protestors were ready to end the romance by hurling “our bodies, our boats, and inflatable animals” into canals as visitors passed by.
The couple’s Sicilian wedding planner, Lanza & Baucina, stated that they have been told to minimise any inconvenience to the city.
And Simone Venturini, Venice’s tourism city councillor, denied that it would disrupt daily life, telling AFP that it was simply “one of many events that the city hosts on a daily basis.” It is also relatively small in terms of the number of participants.
The couple, both divorced, have made charity gifts to assist the city and are employing old Venetian craftspeople.
Venice’s oldest pastry maker, Rosa Salva, is creating 19th-century “fishermen’s biscuits” for party bags also likely to contain something by Laguna B, famed for its handblown Murano glass.
While unhappy people prepare to make a splash, others who are thrilled by Bezos‘ decision to celebrate here have formed a counter-group called “Yes Venice Can”.
