Festival trip guides

Rome's festival year, month by month: Easter ceremonies, the 21 April birthday, the Estate Romana summer programme, autumn cinema and Christmas markets.

Milan packs its patron saint feast, a 16th-century street fair and La Scala's season opening into 7 December. What happens, what's free, what closes.

Florence detonates a fireworks cart outside the Duomo every Easter Sunday. The timings, where to stand in Piazza del Duomo, and what the ritual means.

Siena's 17 contrade are year-round institutions with their own government, church and museum — not Palio teams. What that means for visiting the city.

Siena's calendar is the Palio and everything the Palio implies: 17 contrade running year-round, two race days, and a classical festival most visitors miss.

Spring is when Italy's calendar reopens — Easter processions, Rome's birthday, wine fairs and a May packed with local festivals, before summer prices arrive.

Summer is Italy's biggest festival season and its hardest travel conditions. What runs in June, July and August, and why August is a different country.

Verona's Veronetta district fills with traditional street games every September. A UNESCO Good Practice, free to attend, with a guest country each year.

Venice Carnival always ends on Shrove Tuesday, 47 days before Easter. The rule, a computed table through 2036, and why the start date is never derivable.

Verona fills Piazza dei Signori with a giant heart of market stalls each February. What the programme covers, and how it works around Juliet's House.

Verona's year: the Arena opera season from June, Vinitaly in April, the UNESCO-listed Tocatì street games in September, and Christmas in Piazza dei Signori.

Vinitaly runs 11-14 April 2027 at Veronafiere. It is a trade fair — here is how the public-facing Vinitaly and the City programme works instead.