Venice Biennale dates set
The 61st International Art Exhibition in Venice is scheduled to run from May 9 to November 22, 2026, with the May opening flagged as the key moment for international visitors (veniceinsiderguide.com). Guides are already mapping pavilions and timed openings for art‑world travel planning (veniceinsiderguide.com).
Venice has fixed the public dates for its 2026 art biennale: the 61st International Art Exhibition opens on May 9 and runs through November 22. (labiennale.org) The official preview days, when curators, collectors, journalists and other accredited visitors typically flood the city, are set for May 6, 7 and 8. The awards ceremony and inauguration are scheduled for Saturday, May 9, 2026. (labiennale.org) La Biennale di Venezia says the exhibition will be staged at the Giardini, the Arsenale and other sites across Venice. The official visitor guide also lists Forte Marghera in Mestre among the venues, with summer hours of 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and later Friday and Saturday closing at the Arsenale through September. (labiennale.org) This edition arrives with unusual weight because the show is proceeding after the death of its curator, Koyo Kouoh, on May 10, 2025. La Biennale said it is carrying out the exhibition “just as she conceived and defined it” with the support of her family. (labiennale.org 1) (labiennale.org 2) Kouoh, a Cameroonian-Swiss curator who was appointed in November 2024, gave the 2026 exhibition its title, “In Minor Keys.” La Biennale presented the project in February 2026 as a show built around 111 invited participants from multiple regions. (labiennale.org 1) (labiennale.org 2) The Biennale is also the framework for the national pavilion system that turns Venice into a citywide exhibition every two years. For 2026, La Biennale has announced 99 National Participations and 31 officially recognized Collateral Events alongside the central show. (labiennale.org) That scale is why the May opening week matters well beyond the first day of public entry. Ticketing is already live through the Biennale’s official sales platform, and visitor information spells out separate access rules for the Giardini and Arsenale, where the main exhibition is concentrated. (labiennale.org 1) (labiennale.org 2) The Venice Biennale has been running since 1895, and its art edition remains one of the calendar’s main checkpoints for museums, galleries and artists planning the next two years of shows and acquisitions. The 2026 dates now give that circuit a fixed window: preview in early May, public run through late November. (labiennale.org)
