Italian Festivals: Rome Events
Estate Romana, Primo Maggio, RomaEuropa and December Toy Fair
Do as the Romans do... with handmade dolls, theatre performances, children's shows, classical music and rock concerts outside the Basilica.
Few cities have as busy an events calendar as Rome. Some of the best Italian festivals are held in the ancient capital throughout the year. Estate Romana, RomaEuropa, Primo Maggio and the December Toy Fair are some of the biggest, but you’re pretty much guaranteed to stumble across a party whenever you arrive. Italy’s capital and biggest city manages to celebrate in style, too, especially at the following cultural events and festivals.
Italian Festivals: Rome Events – Estate Romana
Not so much a festival itself, but an umbrella title for a series of events and festivals, Estate Romana runs from June to September. It incorporates a fair few big parties, such as the RomaRock Festival (the 2007 line-up includes Steve Vai, Placebo and Peter Gabriel), Roman Nights at the Teatro de Marcello (classical music concerts) and various art installations, theatre performances and children’s shows.
Italian Festivals: Rome Events – RomaEuropa
Just as Estate Romana finishes, another giant cultural bonanza springs up in its wake. Not quite as populist as the summer event, RomaEuropa has more of an emphasis on the higher-brow arts of theatre, dance and opera. It does manage to attract some of the world’s best performers to Italy’s capital, however, and tickets for the big-name shows and concerts can prove hard to come by. The RomaEuropa festival runs between September and November.
Italian Festivals: Rome Events – Primo Maggio
Taking place on May 1st every year, this is a big rock concert in a rather incongruous setting – in front of the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano. The Catholic backdrop is often in contrast to the lyrics of the bands playing for the music fans who gather in the square. The line-up is usually kept quiet for as long as possible, but the secrecy doesn’t prevent thousands massing to hear a great local and international bands.
Italian Festivals: Rome Events – Toy Fair in Piazza Navona
Held during the first week of December, this is one for the kids (of whatever age). Amongst all the bright Christmas lights and street musicians, Piazza Navona is filled with nativity scenes and toymakers demonstrating their craft. This is not like heading to a superstore and buying plastic robots off the production line – almost all of the toys and dolls on display have been handmade. Anyone who doesn’t feel the spirit of Christmas after attending is probably stone cold in the heart department.
Other festivals in Rome throughout the year include the Rome’s Birthday celebrations on April 21st, the Festa di San Giuseppe on March 19th and the candlelit march through the catacombs on New Year’s Day.
