What's on in Italy: 11 unmissable events to look forward to this summer
Arena Opera Festival, Verona - June 13th-September 6th
Every year the Verona Arena, an ancient Roman amphitheatre built in 30 AD, hosts one of Italy's most prestigious opera festivals.
The festival celebrated its centenary in 2023, one hundred years after the first performance of Giuseppe Verdi's Aida was staged within its walls, and shows no signs of slowing down.
This season opera buffs will have the opportunity to see performances of Nabucco, Carmen, Rigoletto and Carmina Burana, among other classics.
You can find the full 2025 calendar here.
Luminara of San Ranieri, Pisa - June 16th
The Tuscan city of Pisa celebrates its patron saint's day by lighting up dozens of buildings with a magical display consisting of over 100,000 wax candles perched on wooden supports known as biancherie.
The evening is topped off with a fireworks show and is followed the next day with the Palio di San Ranieri, in which crews of rowers from the city's four districts race down the Arno and must climb a 10-metre pole to claim the winner's flag.
Calcio Storico final, Florence - June 24th
The annual Calcio Storico tournament is one of Florence's most hotly-anticipated summer events.
Calcio Storico (or historical football) is an early – and very violent – form of football that originated during the Middle Ages in Italy. It combines elements of modern-day rugby, football and wrestling.
Every year, Tuscany's capital sees four teams, each representing a different city district, battle it out to be crowned the champions.
The semi-finals take place in early June, while the final match is held on the feast day of the city's patron saint, John the Baptist, on June 24th.
A medieval pageant will make its way through the city's streets from Piazza Santa Maria Novella to Piazza della Signoria at around 4pm on the day of the final, with the final set to start at 6pm.
The day is usually rounded off with a fireworks display over River Arno.
Festival of the Two Worlds, Spoleto - June 27th-July 13th
The 68th edition of the Festival dei Due Mondi (or Festival of the Two Worlds) in Spoleto, Umbria, will feature an extensive programme of dance, music, opera and theatre performances.
Founded by Italian composer Gian Carlo Menotti in 1958, the festival was originally held in conjunction with a similar event in Charleston, South Carolina, with the intention of marrying the 'two worlds' of American and European culture.
You can find the full 2025 events calendar here.
Palio di Siena, Siena - July 2nd and August 16th
The Palio di Siena is one of the most popular horse races in the world, with Siena's 17 contrade districts competing against each other in an intense race held in the city's oval-shaped Piazza del Campo.
First held in 1633, the Palio takes place twice a year: on July 2nd and August 16th.
The July Palio is called Palio di Provenzano, while the August one is known as Palio dell'Assunta as a homage to the Assumption of Mary, celebrated by the Catholic Church on August 15th.
Horses pictured during the final lap of Italy's Palio di Siena on July 2nd, 2022. Photo by Alberto PIZZOLI / AFP
A number of events are held in the three days preceding the race, including several trial runs and the momentous tratta (draw), where each competing contrada is randomly assigned a horse.
On the day of the Palio, a parade made up of nearly 700 participants dressed in historical costumes enchants the public just before the start of the race.
Ravello Festival, Ravello, Campania - July 6th-August 25th
Among the highlights of the Italian summer is the Ravello Festival, a packed programme of open-air classical music performances held on the terrace of Villa Rufolo, a 13th-century villa overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea.
This year's festival will see world-famous musicians and conductors perform music by Wagner, Brahms, Tchaikovsky and Beethoven, among others.
The 2025 edition will close out on August 25th with a performance from the UK's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
Perched some 350 metres above sea level, Ravello's elevation provides some welcome relief from the summer heat. If you're in the town this summer, make sure to visit Villa Cimbrone's landscaped gardens, which offer unique views of the Amalfi Coast.
Umbria Jazz Festival, Perugia - July 11th-20th
One of Europe's leading jazz festivals, Umbria Jazz has both a summer and a winter edition, with this year's summer festival set to run from July 11th to July 20th
Herbie Hancock, Mitch Woods, Mark Turner and Isaiah Collier are some of the international acts set to make an appearance in 2025.
You can find this year's full programme here.
Festa del Redentore, Venice - July 18th-20th
Held every year on the third Sunday of July, Venice's Festa del Redentore (Feast of the Redeemer) commemorates the end of a plague that decimated Venice's population, killing as many as 46,000 residents between 1575 and 1576.
A number of events take place on the weekdays preceding the feast itself, including the construction of a floating walkway connecting Venice to the nearby Giudecca island.
Celebrations traditionally kick off on Saturday afternoon, punctuated by a 40-minute fireworks display over the lagoon's waters at around 11.30pm.
Ferragosto, nationwide - August 15th
Ferragosto is by far Italy's biggest summer holiday, unofficially marking the peak of the country's vacation season.
Though it is celebrated on the same day as the Catholic holiday of the Assumption of Mary, Ferragosto has pagan roots.
A view of Monterosso beach, in Italy's Cinque Terre National Park, on August 13th, 2024. Photo by MARCO BERTORELLO / AFP
Its origins are in the Feriae Augusti, festivals introduced by Roman emperor Augustus in 18 BC to celebrate the end of the harvest season and give farmers a period of rest after the hard labour of the previous weeks.
Despite being one of Italy's most important holidays, Ferragosto is typically a low-key affair, with most Italians celebrating by taking off the week around the feast and heading to the beach or the mountains.
That said, some towns around the country generally stage processions where a statue of the Virgin Mary is carried through the streets or, in seaside villages, along the shoreline in a boat.
Notte della Taranta, Melpignano, Puglia - August 23rd
One of the most hotly-anticipated events of Puglia's summer is the Notte della Taranta.
It's a night of high-energy pizzica – a folk dance believed to have originated from the legend that anyone bitten by a tarantula would have to dance in a frenzy for days to flush out the venom.
This year's edition will take place in the town of Melpignano, just outside Lecce.
I Suoni delle Dolomiti, Trentino - August 27th-October 4th
Once you've soaked up all the August sun Italy's coast has to offer, why not see out the end of the summer by heading up north to the Trentino Dolomites to experience live music performances immersed in nature?
The staggered music festival The Sounds of the Dolomites takes place in different locations around the Alpine region – from alpine meadows and pastures to mountain huts.
This year's programme features a variety of musical genres, including classical, jazz, world music, folk and pop.
Most performances are free of charge, though reaching the venues often involves hiking or using shuttle services, which are not included and must be paid for separately.
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