Holidays & Festivals

Italy

Festivals
New Year's Day (Capo D’Anno) is celebrated with church services, parties and all kinds of festivities. Children receive strenna, or money gifts, from their parents, while friends and relatives send each other flowers and bunches of mistletoe. Since early times Italians have attributed mistletoe with such miraculous properties as healing sickness and aiding fertility. Today a piece of mistletoe is hung over the door to "bring luck" to the entire household. On January 5th, is Epiphany (La Vigilia Dell’Epifania), the feast that commemorates the visit of the Three Kings to the manger. Also, on Epiphany Eve children receive gifts in memory of the presents the Wise Men offered the Christ Child. Carnevale always begins on January 17 and continues until Ash Wednesday. The ceremonies of the last three days of the carnival are the most entertaining, especially those of Martedi Grasso (Shrove Tuesday). Throughout Italy the occasion is celebrated with colorful pageants, masquerades, dancing and music.


Florence
Many festivals in Florence take place from spring to fall, with the majority occurring in the summer. In June, is Calcio in Costume where athletes wear colorful costumes and take part in a football game that commemorates the famous match in 1530. Festa de San Giovanniis the fireworks display that celebrates Calcio in Costume. In the first week of September is Rificolona. Children of Florence come into the streets in their Sunday best singing songs and carrying papier-mâché lanterns. This festival celebrates the day in 1555 when troops of Florence triumphantly entered Siena.


Siena
There are festivals held throughout the year in Siena. At the beginning of the year, in February, is Oil and Wine Week where these Tuscan delicacies are featured in workshops and free tastings directed by Enoteca Italiana and the National Oil City Association. Also in February is Carnival of Asciano, a procession of traditional carnival chariots, music bands and folklore activities. The spring and summer brings events such as Festival of the Wild Boar in April and Serre Maggio during the second week of May. Ferie delle Messi is held in July. This medieval celebration fills the city’s streets and squares with traveling performers, storytellers and vendors selling wine, oil and local crafts. The largest of these is the Palio di Siena (July and August), which is a medieval horse race that is run around Piazza del Campo. This event fills Siena with excitement when these dangerous competitions take place. On the third weekend of September, the antiques street market Mercatino della Scialenga is held in the city center.

Perugia
La Festa degli Statuti On May 13th of the 996, the town presented its first public reading of its new town 'constitution' which was a series of opinions, adopted attitudes and laws that was one of the first of its kind. In honor of this date the town dresses up in medieval costume and recreates the same atmosphere of poverty and simple joy that their ancestors lived in ten centuries ago. There is a re-reading of the document, numerous parades, medieval markets that offer foods and recipes no longer known or used, displays of ancient crafts and wandering minstrels that drape their ancient strains upon the medieval mood that permeates the air. Unfortunately, the date is never certain and must be confirmed before you make arrangements.

Saint Ercolano's Festival Honoring the patron saint of this spectacular town, this festival is held during the first week in March.

EuroChocolate Festival (October 13-21st) The EuroChocolate Festival is held in the historic center of the city, from Rocca Paolina up to the squares and the internal areas: Carducci Gardens, Piazza Italia, Piazza della Repubblica, Corso Vannucci, Via Mazzini, Via Fani, the Terrace of the Covered Market, and Piazza 4 Novembre. For nine days this Umbrian town transforms itself into a huge open-air pastry shop for the delight of all the gourmands and lovers of chocolate. There are also dozens of big events concentrated on the "food of the gods" with exhibitions, laboratories, internships, cooking classes, tasting, expositions, banquets, celebrations and the final prizes: Eurochocolate Awards.

Rome

Festivals
Rome is, together with Milan, the city where most cultural events such as exhibitions, concerts and shows take place in Italy. Whether it’s the Roma Jazz Festival or the Donna Sotto le Stelle, the annual Roman appointment with high fashion, where creations by the most famous fashion designers are modeled on a catwalk in a truly magnificent setting: on the Spanish Steps in Piazza di Spagna, you are likely to indulge in a local Roman event.