January starts with New Year’s Eve events that last into the New Year as well as some special events on New Year’s Day, often aimed at children. One of the best known New Year’s Day traditions is held at the Venice Lido beaches where bathers take a chilling dip in the water to welcome the new year.

Epiphany, the arrival of the 3 kings, is celebrated January the 6th and is the most important festival of the month. In Italy, children hang their stockings the night before waiting La Befana, the beloved witch who delivers candy and gifts. 

Both New Year’s Day and Epiphany are national holidays in Italy so expect many shops and services to be closed. Some museums and tourist sites are also closed so be sure to check in advance.

Carnevale is at the top of the list for February festivals all over Italy. It comes 40 days before Easter so the date changes every year. The biggest Carnevale celebrations last for several weeks. Although Venice and Viareggio have the most well-known celebrations, it is celebrated all over Italy in a variety of ways. 

In Catania, Sicily, the big festival is for Saint Agatha’s Feast Day, the second largest religious procession in the world. Most other February festivals are in the first part of the month, prior to the beginning of Lent (Christian season of fasting).

Valentine’s Day, February the 14th, is not celebrated as fanatically as it is in other parts of the world but lovers do give lots of flowers and candy. The Umbrian town of Terni, who claim Saint Valentino as their patron saint, celebrates it with a torchlight parade.

Unless Easter falls in March, there are no national holidays this month. Many local festivities occur around March the 21st for the beginning of Spring.

Festa della Donna, women’s day festival, is celebrated March the 8th all over Italy. On this day, men bring flowers, usually yellow Mimosa, to women in their lives. Restaurants have special Festa della Donna meals and there are often small local festivals or concerts. Some museums and sites offer free or reduced admission for women.

Commemoration of Caesar’s Death is held March the 15th, the Ides of March, in Rome. Cultural events are usually held in the Roman Forum near the temple of Caesar and a re-enactment of Caesar’s death is held at the site of his assassination in the Torre Argentina archeological site.

Festa della Primavera, a spring festival, is held many places in Italy on March 21. Often the festival is centered around a regional food.

Rome Marathon, held the third Sunday of March, is a 42km run through the streets of Rome. Starting from the Roman Forum, the footrace goes through some of Rome’s most famous sites before ending at the Colosseum. Runners from all over the world participate. The city streets in Rome’s historic center are closed to traffic for the event.

Easter sometimes falls in late March with events during the week leading up to Easter Sunday.

April is a good time for spring festivals in Italy. 

April the 25th is a national holiday celebrating Liberation Day in Italy. Some shops may be closed, but there will be festivals and concerts in many places. 

Easter, often falls in April. Easter week celebrations start during the week before Easter and continue through Easter Monday, La Pasquetta, a national holiday and a day where you may find some very interesting festivals. One of Easter’s most unusual events is the Scoppio del Carro, or Explosion of the Cart, in front of the Duomo in Florence.

Rome’s birthday: The date of Rome’s founding (in 753BC) is celebrated on April the 21th so if you’re in Rome, watch for festivals, concerts, and special events. There’s usually a fireworks display over the Tiber River and gladiator shows around the forum area.

Salone del Mobile. Milan. The worldwide-renowned furniture exhibition, with 2,500 exhibitors, more than 300,000 visitors coming from more than 160 Countries, +5,000 accredited journalists. 
Alongside the main exhibition, several events, meetings, presentations take place to have a complete view of the present and future of the furnishings and design.

May in Italy is a good time to find spring festivals. You’ll find flower festivals, food and wine festivals, medieval reenactments, and events celebrating rituals of spring.

May the 1st, is a public holiday all over Italy as the day of the workers. Many services will be closed but you may find interesting parades and festivals to celebrate the day. Expect big crowds in popular Italian tourist destinations.

Night at Museums is held on a Saturday in mid-May. Museums in many Italian cities are untill late, often with free admission and special events.

Il Palio di Ferrara, a historical horse race dating from 1279, is run the last Sunday of May. There are parades, flag throwing contests, and other events every weekend in May including a historical procession to the castle with over 1000 people in Renaissance costumes on the Saturday night of the weekend before the race.

Summer brings many festivals to Italy. Look for posters announcing a festa or sagra as you travel around Italy, even in smaller villages. Many Italian towns have outdoor music concerts beginning in June, too.

Italy’s Festa della Repubblica, or Republic Day, on June the 2nd is a national holiday celebrated throughout Italy but the biggest festival is in Rome, with military parade in the morning hosted in Via dei Fori Imperiali (Colosseum area) and plane shows. 

Infiorata, spectacular flower petal art displays, are held in many Italian towns. Many Italian towns hold an infiorata, flower art festival, during May and June (look for posters announcing an infiorata). Flower petals are used to create amazing works of art in the streets or in abbeys, a really beautiful sight. To create the picture, the design is first sketched in chalk on the pavement. Soil is usually used to outline the design and then it’s filled in with thousands of petals and seeds, much like the making of mosaics or tapestries (but with different materials). The entire process takes two or three days to complete.

*Where to see an Infiorata
One of the most famous infiorata festivals is in Noto, Sicily, usually held the weekend of the third Sunday in May. Noto is a beautiful Baroque town and UNESCO World Heritage site in southeast Sicily.  Bolsena, north of Rome, its carpets are about 3km of pavement with flower tapestries along the main route for the Corpus Domini Sunday procession. Genzano di Roma, south of Rome, has been holding an infiorata since 1778, also famous for its homemade bread. Orvieto, in the central Italy region of Umbria, has a costumed procession with over 400 people and the streets are decorated with flower art.

Tuscany Sun Festival, a top summer arts festival that gathers well-known artists and musicians for a week of music, art, cuisine, wine, and wellness is held in Florence in June. The program also includes: cooking demonstrations, art exhibitions, pre-concert receptions with locally made products and Tuscany wines.

International Ceramics Festival comes to Montelupo in Tuscany the last week of June.

Festival of two Worlds, is one of Italy’s most famous performing arts festivals, attended by some of the world’s top artists. It features concerts, operas, ballets, films, and art from late June through mid-July. The festival was first started in 1958 by composer Gian Carlo Menotti with the intention of bringing together the old and new worlds of Europe and America. It’s in Spoleto in central Italy’s Umbria region.

July is a great month for festivals in Italy. Throughout the country there are outdoor music festivals, often in a main square, as well as big summer music festivals. Be sure to plan ahead if you want to attend a famous festival. 

Il Palio di Siena. Siena’s famous horse race around the central square, Piazza del Campo, takes place July 2 and August 16. You might be able to snag a standing place, reserved seats are sell out in advance. Before the race there’s a spectacular procession with people in medieval costume. 

Estate Romana is a festival of music and performing arts with events throughout Rome during the summer. 

Verona Opera is one of the most popular summer opera series. Operas are performed open-air in the stunning Roman amphitheater of Verona, a city 100km away from Venice. Opera fans will not miss the chance to see Opera in a beautiful outdoor setting. Rome and Verona are two of the best places for summer opera. Visit Marhaba Italia Activities’page to know more about the Opera in Italy. 

Perugia music festival is a big classical music festival featuring young musicians. Concerts are held in late July and August in Perugia, Umbria, in several of Perugia’s historical monuments and churches.

In some big cities like Rome and Milan, the city will empty out as Italians leave the city for the beaches and mountains. Traditionally, Ferragosto marks the start of Italy’s vacation period so if you’re in a city during the second half of August, you may find a number of restaurants and shops closed for vacation.

August the 15th, Ferragosto, is a national holiday. Many celebrations take place in Italy, often including music, food, and fireworks.

Festival della Pizza. Rocca di Papa, Rome. Only 40 km away from Rome, this small city hosts this joyful festival: boasting live concerts, cabaret and naturally, plenty of pizza.

Venice Film Festival. Venice’s popular film festival is in early September. The aim of the Festival is to raise awareness and promote the various aspects of international cinema in all its forms: as art, entertainment and as an industry, in a spirit of freedom and dialogue. The Festival also organises retrospectives and tributes to major figures as a contribution towards a better understanding of the history of cinema.

Boat Show. Genova. One of the most important yachting show in the world. Visitors will experience the passion for the sea and water sports testing the boats and participating in many special activities. More than 1,000 boats are on show, from the four traditional areas: sailing, outboard engines and inflatable boats, powerboats and motor yachts. The latest products of the national and international nautical industry will be displayed along a refurbished path with new docks and reserved areas.

Milan Fashion Week. Established in 1958, is part of the global “Big Four fashion weeks”, the others are being Paris Fashion Week, London Fashion Week and New York Fashion Week. The events dedicated to women’s fashion are the most important. It hosts more than 40 shows each season transforming the city into a touristic hub by simply creating various venues for the shows selecting the most elegant and influential palaces to become the stage for design.

MITO International Music Festival – Milan and Torino host a variety of musical performances during the month of September.

Regatta Storica – Venice’s historic boat race takes place the first Sunday in September with four race categories – children, women, men in 6 oar boats, and the champions racing in boats with 2 oars. The races are preceded by a parade.

Eurochocolate is a chocolate lovers paradise. This big chocolate festival takes place in Perugia, famous for its Perugina Baci chocolates, in mid-October.

Rome Film Festival, in late October, includes international movie premiers, a competition, and lots of events.

Fall Truffle Fairs in Italy, Some of the biggest truffle festivals are in Piedmont, Tuscany, Umbria, Marche, and Emilia Romagna regions during October and November.

Torrone Festival – Cremona claims to be the birthplace of torrone, Italian nougat. A document from October the 25th, 1441, indicates that torrone was made for a wedding banquet in Cremona. During the festival, the fourth weekend of October, the historical wedding is re-enacted and there’s plenty of torrone.

Truffles are the star of November Festivals in Italy. Many truffle fairs are held on weekends in northern and central Italy. You’ll also find chestnut festivals on weekends in many towns and villages during November. Restaurants will often have special meals highlighting truffles, chestnuts, or wild mushrooms especially on Sundays.

All Saints Day, celebrated November the 1st, is a national holiday in Italy so many shops will be closed but most top tourist attractions and museums remain open. Some churches that are not usually open may be open on All Saints Day.

All Souls Day, November the 2nd, Italians bring flowers to cemeteries to honor deceased relatives.

The International Horse Show, Verona. During the second weekend of November, this fair draws participants coming from all over the world. There is a parade with decorated horses and period costumes through the city on opening day.

The Italian Opera Season starts in many of Italy’s Top Opera Houses. Check-out the Activities page to know more about the Opera in Italy.