Upcoming Holidays and Festivals in Italy
- Beware: Festival dates are often not posted online until just before the event (or may even be posted incorrectly, especially in Italy). Verify the correct festival dates before planning a trip around a specific festival. For more information about these and other events, visit the official tourism site for Italy.
- This list includes major festivals in major cities, plus national holidays observed throughout Italy. Many sights and banks close down on national holidays — keep it in mind when planning your itinerary. Note that this isn't a complete list; holidays can strike without warning.
- See upcoming holidays and festivals across Europe
2021
April/May: Settimana della Cultura, across Italy (Cultural Heritage Week)
April 2: Good Friday (processions, including Procession of I Misteri, Trapani, Sicily)
April 4: Easter Sunday (and Scoppio del Carro fireworks in Florence; closures)
April 5: Easter Monday (closures)
April 21: Rome's City Birthday Celebration (parades, fireworks)
April 25: Italian Liberation Day (closures), also St. Mark's Day, Venice (traghetto races, concerts)
May 1: May Day/Labor Day (closures)
Early May–late November: Venice Biennale (international art exhibition)
May 13: Ascension; also Cricket Festival (Festa del Grillo), Florence (music, entertainment, food, crickets sold in cages)
May 14–16 (likely): Infiorata di Noto, Sicily (flower festival)
May 15 (likely): Sagra del Limone, Monterosso, Cinque Terre (lemon festival)
May 28–30: Feast of San Giorgio, Ragusa Ibla, Sicily (processions, fireworks, mostly on final day)
May 29: Festa delle Madonna delle Milizie, Scicli, Sicily (processions, Norman battle reenactments)
Late May or early June (iffy for 2021): Vogalonga Regatta, Venice
June 2: Anniversary of the Republic (across Italy but with grandest festivities in Rome; closures)
June: Fashion conventions, Florence
June–August: Verona Opera season
June 3: Corpus Domini (festivals and processions across Italy, especially in Rome, Orvieto, and Castelrotto/Kastelruth)
June 5–6: Le Infiorate, Spello (giant flower-carpet competition near Assisi; similar infiorate are also common elsewhere in Italy this weekend)
June 11–12: Kastelruther Spatzen Open Air, Castelrotto/Kastelruth (concert series featuring hometown folk group)
June 16–17: Feast of St. Ranieri, Pisa (illuminated facades, candles on the Arno, fireworks, regatta)
June 20–23: Vinitaly, Verona (wine festival)
June 20–July 31: Florence Dance Festival
June 24: Feast of St. John the Baptist, northwestern Italy, especially Florence (water lanterns, boat races, dancing, medieval tournaments, fireworks; many celebrations held on nearby weekends; some closures), and Calcio Storico, Florence (Renaissance ball game played on Piazza Santa Croce)
June 25–July 11: Spoleto Festival dei Due Mondi (visual arts and performances from US and across Europe, near Orvieto)
June 26: Gioco del Ponte, Pisa (colorful parade and "battle" for control of the Ponte di Mezzo)
Late June–early September: Outdoor cinema season, Florence (contemporary films)
June 28–July 15 (likely): Ancona Jazz Summer Festival
June 29: Sts. Peter and Paul Day (most fervently celebrated in Rome with fireworks and flower carpet in St. Peter's Square, and with three-day festival in Modica, Sicily)
July 8–9 & 14: Marostica Summer Festival (music concerts)
July 2: Palio horse race, Siena
July 9–18: Umbria Jazz, Perugia
Mid-July: Noantri Festival, Trastevere district, Rome (music and folklore)
July 17–18 (likely): Festa del Redentore, Venice (Feast of the Redeemer; regatta, fireworks)
Late July–August: Stresa Festival, Lake Maggiore (classical music)
July 23–25: Unicorn Festival, Vinci, Tuscany (fantasy concerts, parades, exhibitions)
July 31–August 15: Locus Festival, Locorotondo (contemporary music)
August 15: Ferragosto (Feast of the Assumption; closures)
August 16: Palio horse race, Siena
September–October: Chestnut festivals (chestnut roasts and related festivities; most towns, mainly north of Rome)
September 5: Historical Regatta, Venice
September 7: Festa della Rificolona, Florence (children's procession with lanterns, street performances, parade)
September 13: Volto Santo, Lucca (procession and fair)
Mid-September–mid-November: Musica dei Popoli, Florence (ethnic/folk music and dance)
September 19: Rome Marathon
September 19: Feast of St. Januarius, Naples (La Festa di San Gennaro; closures)
September 19–21 & September 27–29 (likely): Pistachio Festival, Bronte (near Mount Etna), Sicily
October 8–10 (likely): Kastelruther Spatzenfest (concert series featuring hometown Schlager group), Castelrotto/Kastelruth
October 9–December 5: International White Truffle Fair, Alba (between Turin and Genoa; cooking demonstrations, historical reenactments, truffles by the pound)
November 1: All Saints' Day (some closures)
November 21: Feast of Our Lady of Good Health, Venice (religious festival, bridge built over Grand Canal)
November 30–December 20: Feast of Santa Lucia, Siracusa, Sicily (culminates with procession of the saint's statue and relics to the cathedral on December 13)
December: Christmas Market on Piazza Navona, Rome; crèches in churches throughout Italy
December 7: Feast of St. Ambrose, Milan (special street markets, closures)
December 8: Feast of the Immaculate Conception (closures)
December 25: Christmas (closures)
December 26: St. Stephen's Day (closures)
Late December (5 days): Umbria Jazz Winter, Orvieto
2022
January 1: New Year's Day (closures)
January 6: Epiphany (and Epiphany Fair religious festival in Rome; closures)
January–March: Carnival celebrations throughout Italy (street parties)
February 3–5: Festa di Sant'Agata, Catania (processions and fireworks)
February/March: Carnevale di Viareggio, Tuscany (about six somewhat sporadic days)
February 12–March 1: Carnevale, Venice (most festive on weekends; particularly quiet during first week)
February 27–March 1: Ivrea Carnevale (orange-throwing free-for-all on last three days; smaller festivities in week prior)
April/May: Settimana della Cultura, across Italy (Cultural Heritage Week)
April 15: Good Friday (processions across Italy, including Procession of I Misteri in Trapani, Sicily)
April 17: Easter Sunday (and Scoppio del Carro fireworks in Florence, closures); also Rome's City Birthday Celebration (parades, fireworks)
April 18: Easter Monday (closures)
April 21: Rome's City Birthday Celebration (parades, fireworks)
April 25: Italian Liberation Day (closures), also St. Mark's Day, Venice (traghetto races, concerts)
April 21–24 (likely): Artichoke Festival, Chiusure (near Pienza)
May 1: May Day/Labor Day (closures)
Early May–early July: Festival del Teatro Greco, Siracusa, Sicily (Greek plays in the city's ancient theater)
May 13–15 (likely): Infiorata di Noto, Sicily (flower festival)
May 21 (likely): Sagra del Limone, Monterosso, Cinque Terre (lemon festival)
May 26: Ascension; also Cricket Festival (Festa del Grillo), Florence (music, entertainment, food, crickets sold in cages)
May 27–29: Feast of San Giorgio, Ragusa Ibla, Sicily (processions, fireworks, mostly on final day)
May 28: Festa delle Madonna delle Milizie, Scicli, Sicily (processions, Norman battle reenactments)
Late May or early June (1 day): Vogalonga Regatta, Venice
June 2: Anniversary of the Republic (cross Italy but with grandest festivities in Rome; closures)
June: Fashion conventions, Florence
June–August: Verona Opera season
Early June (2 days): Kastelruther Spatzen Open Air, Castelrotto/Kastelruth (concert series featuring hometown Schlager group)
June 16–17: Feast of St. Ranieri, Pisa (illuminated facades, candles on the Arno, fireworks, regatta)
June 16: Corpus Domini (festivals and processions across Italy, especially in Rome, Orvieto, and Castelrotto/Kastelruth)
June 18–19 (likely): Le Infiorate, Spello (giant flower-carpet competition near Assisi; similar infiorate are also common elsewhere in Italy this weekend)
Mid-June (likely): Vinitaly, Verona (wine festival)
Mid-June–late July: Florence Dance Festival
June 24: Feast of St. John the Baptist, northwestern Italy, especially Florence (water lanterns, boat races, dancing, medieval tournaments, fireworks; many celebrations held on nearby weekends; some closures), and Calcio Storico, Florence (Renaissance ball game played on Piazza Santa Croce)
June 25: Gioco del Ponte, Pisa (colorful parade and "battle" for control of the Ponte di Mezzo)
Late June –mid-July: Spoleto Festival dei Due Mondi (visual arts and performances from US and across Europe, near Orvieto)
Late June–early September: Outdoor cinema season, Florence (contemporary films)
June 29: Sts. Peter and Paul Day (most fervently celebrated in Rome with fireworks and flower carpet in St. Peter's Square, and with three-day festival in Modica, Sicily)