VENICE, Italy – Protesters in Venice are celebrating what they call an “enormous victory” after reports that American billionaire Jeff Bezos and his wedding guests relocated their main celebration away from the city centre following sustained local resistance.
The three-day celebration marking the wedding of Bezos and television presenter Lauren Sánchez was initially rumoured to culminate in a high-profile event at the Scuola Grande della Misericordia — one of Venice’s most opulent venues.
However, a local official confirmed to the BBC that the final gathering will now take place at the Arsenale, further away from the heart of the historic city.
The shift has energised local activist groups, who have staged vocal and symbolic protests in recent days, opposing what they describe as the “privatisation” of Venice by the ultra-wealthy.
“We are very proud of this! We are nobodies, we have no money, nothing,” said Tommaso Cacciari, a spokesperson for No Space for Bezos, one of the groups leading the protests.
“We’re just citizens who started organising and we managed to move one of the most powerful people in the world – all the billionaires – out of the city.”
Protest activity has escalated in recent days, with posters reading “No Space for Bezos” appearing across Venice and protest banners strung from bridges.
On Monday, June 23, 2025, a group named Everyone Hates Elon unfurled a giant image of Bezos in Piazza San Marco, alongside the slogan: “If you can rent Venice for your wedding then you can pay more tax.”
In another stunt, fake one-dollar bills featuring Bezos’ face were scattered across St. Mark’s Square.
Greenpeace campaigner Simona Abbate, who joined the demonstrations, told the BBC: “Our protest isn’t about the wedding itself – it’s about what it represents. The richest live in excess, while others endure the consequences of a climate emergency they didn’t create.”
City officials, however, have pushed back.
Simone Venturini, Venice’s city councillor for economic development, dismissed the protesters as “a tiny minority” and accused them of behaving “as if they own Venice.”
“No one gets to decide who gets married here,” Venturini said.
“This event involves just 200 carefully selected guests and will bring major economic benefits to the city,” he added, emphasising that all venues used were privately owned.
The high-security wedding, which is expected to attract A-list guests including Kim Kardashian, Mick Jagger, Leonardo DiCaprio, and members of the Trump family, has reportedly seen entire hotels booked out, private yachts stationed in the harbour, and former US Marines hired for security.
Venice’s airport is bracing for a surge in private jet arrivals.
Critics say the spectacle underscores long-standing concerns about over-tourism and inequality.
Local authorities recently introduced a €5 daily entry fee for tourists, but activists argue it has done little to curb the crowds or address the broader issues facing the city.
Originally, protesters had planned to launch a symbolic “wet protest” — entering the canals near celebration venues with inflatable alligators to block access.
That plan has been shelved, but activists say further actions are in motion, including a public projection campaign and a citywide march on Saturday, June 21, 2025.
“Bezos comes to Venice only for the party, that’s the problem,” said Cacciari.
“This vision of Venice not as a city anymore but like a big theme park where you can hire pieces or all of it and just do your private thing. He’s sending the message that all the city is a background for a party of billionaires.”
The first guests are expected to arrive on Thursday, June 26, 2025 as preparations for one of the year’s most high-profile weddings continue — albeit further from the city’s historic heart than originally planned.
