Amazon founder Jeff Bezos changed the wedding venue from central Venice to the outskirts due to security concerns after protests from local civic groups continued ahead of the ultra-luxury wedding scheduled to be held in Venice, Italy.
According to Reuters on the 24th, Bezos and fiancee Lauren Sanchez originally planned to hold a wedding celebration party at the Scuola Grande della Misericordia, a magnificent medieval building in the Canarezo district, central Venice, from the 26th to the 28th.
“The party venue has been changed to a remote, low-access area of Venice to prevent security concerns and the risk of protests,” a source told Reuters. The decision seems to have been made as protests against the wedding have continued recently by local civic groups and protests to block guests from entering on the day of the wedding.
About 200 to 250 VIP guests from the entertainment, political and financial industries will head to Arceneale Hall, a huge complex built in the 14th century east of the Castello district, the media said. The media explained that this place is surrounded by water on all sides and is considered a safe place because lifting connected bridges blocks external access. The local civic group “No Space for Bezos” cheered the decision of the Bezos couple.
“The news that Bezos ran away from Scuola Grande della Misericordia is a huge victory for us,” said Tomaso Cacciari, the leader of the group. “We are just ordinary citizens, and after working together and acting systematically, we eventually drove one of the most powerful people in the world out of the city.”
On the 28th, he said he would hold additional protests on canals, bridges, and narrow streets, adding, “I will make this event a nightmare for Bezos and his guests.”
Meanwhile, about 200 celebrities were invited to Bezos’ wedding, nicknamed “The Wedding of the Century,” including U.S. President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner, star broadcasters Oprah Winfrey and Kim Kardashian, singers Mick Jagger and Katy Perry, and actress Eva Longoria.
Venice has recently been plagued by noise, invasion of privacy, and soaring housing prices due to a surge in tourists. In this situation, local civic groups and residents protested when Bezos tried to rent a virtually entire city to have a wedding.
About 12 local civic groups have been protesting against the wedding ceremony since last week. The groups put up banners reading “No Space for Bezos” on the Rialto Bridge, Venice’s iconic structure, and posted anti-wedding posters throughout the city.
In addition, the international environmental group Greenpeace also joined the opposition demonstration, displaying a banner in San Marco Square in Venice with a smiling face of Bezos and an English phrase saying, “If you can rent Venice for a wedding, you should pay more taxes.”
JULIE KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL
