Three days of events in the Monti neighborhood to relive the charm of the roman “Ottobrate”

Ottobrata Monticiana returns to enliven Rione Monti, Rome’s first and oldest district. From October 9th to 11th, 2026, enjoy three days of initiatives: wellness and sports activities, exhibitions, shows, and concerts that revive the cheerful, carefree spirit of Romans who once celebrated the famous Ottobrate Romane. These were traditional Sunday trips outside the city that took place in the month of October, coinciding with the beautiful sunny days and the grape harvest.

The Ottobrata Monticiana retraces these memories, encapsulating them within the Monti District. This initiative was born after AS Roma’s 1983 Scudetto victory, thanks to the efforts of Prof. Adolfo Cecilia, the founder of the Associazione culturale ricreativa e sportiva Rione Monti, whichaimed at preserving and passing on the traditions and identity of Monti. The goal was to bring together Monticians who had moved to other neighborhoods over the years or were about to do so.

Since that first edition, the Ottobrata Monticiana has become a tradition and a regular event for both old and new Monticians, as well as for tourists and visitors who come to experience the neighborhood’s genuine and authentic atmosphere.

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The 2026 programme

The three-day programme, running from Friday 9 to Sunday 11 October, is packed. The 2026 edition brings the district to life starting from the main stage in Piazza Madonna dei Monti, alongside the events on the Scalinata degli Ibernesi and the moonlight concerts in Largo Visconti Venosta, with many more initiatives spread across the whole district. Beyond concerts and performances, there are exhibitions and roving events, plus workshops open to all ages.

Friday 9 October

Piazza Madonna dei Monti

• 16:30–17:00 — Carabinieri Band
• 17:30–18:00 — Address by the Municipio administration
• 18:00–18:30 — Awards for the district’s historic businesses (presented by Councillor Cristina Michitelli)
• 18:30–19:30 — Francesca Bessi, “Tutte le notti in sogno”, Roman songs (accompanied by Corrado Amici)
• 20:00–21:00 — Monti artists and singers: Federica & Federico, Giulia Milano, Stella Scarpetti, Cristina Milanese
• 21:30–23:30 — I Mezzicani

Scalinata degli Ibernesi

• 20:00–22:00 — Ludovica Valori with Traindeville

Largo Visconti Venosta

• 20:00–21:00 — Sestetto Afternine, pop jazz
• 21:00–22:00 — Les Lunettes, swing jazz

Saturday 10 October

Piazza Madonna dei Monti

• 18:00–19:00 — Prof. Gianni Sega performs the sonnets of Gioachino Belli
• 20:00–21:30 — Theatre with Fabrizio Giannini, “Tutte le buche portano a Roma”
• 22:00–23:30 — Tiziana Salzano and the Fuori Rotta Band

Scalinata degli Ibernesi

• 18:00–18:30 — “Il mondo sulle spalle”, a reading with Elettra Mallaby and Giulio Napolitano
• 20:00–22:30 — Five Red Swing

Largo Visconti Venosta

• 21:30–23:00 — Interno 7 Jazz Band, a night of swing

Sunday 11 October

Piazza Madonna dei Monti

• 17:30–18:45 — Monti singers: Giulia Milano, Stella Scarpetti, Cristina Milanese, Ingegno & Federica La Licata, Nadia Frano
• 20:30–21:30 — Stefy Camboni (piano and vocals) and Massimo Mattia
• 22:00–22:30 — Ottobrata Monticiana lottery draw
• 22:30–23:30 — Massimo Mattia & Greta Mattia

Scalinata degli Ibernesi

• 20:00–21:30 — Monti canta Napoli, with Romolo Bianco (vocals and guitar)

Largo Visconti Venosta

• 20:00–22:00 — Canzoni in prestito, Mirai band & Aula 7

Over the three days the district will also come alive with roving performances (Rugantino & Rosetta, the Lodi Circus, and the Società di Danza in period costume), widespread exhibitions, guided tours, and workshops for all ages.

Visit the website for the full programme

One of the highlights of 2026 is City Adventure, which turns Rione Monti into a large open-air urban game across all three days of the festival. You download the app (iOS and Android), follow a route through the alleys and squares, and play by the “play, shoot, discover, win” formula: historical riddles to solve, questions to answer and hidden details to photograph, with a final leaderboard and prizes up for grabs. There is no set start time: you begin whenever you like, on your own or as a team. All the info and rules are at cityadventure.it.

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Exhibitions, and Other Initiatives

Here is a day-by-day rundown of the exhibitions, cultural initiatives and roving events of Ottobrata Monticiana 2026.

Exhibitions (all three days)

• Giuseppe di Legge, “I Luoghi dell’Uomo” and Federico Ruxo, “L’Immaginario Marino” – Bar La Licata, Via dei Serpenti 165 – 9, 10 and 11 October, 07:45–21:30
• Micro Art Shop – Via Tor de’ Conti 21 – the “Just One Day” flash-exhibition format with a rotating line-up of illustrators, plus the SLURP graphic project on show at Bar La Licata – 11:00–19:30
• “Stagioni d’Oriente” by Francesca Maffucci – Galleria Moca, Via degli Zingari 1 – Friday 10:00–13:30 and 15:00–18:30, Saturday and Sunday 15:00–18:30
• Mostra delle Macchine parlanti e degli Organetti, by Mario Valentini – Via dei Serpenti 35, c/o FITEL – Friday 16:00–20:00, Saturday 10:00–13:00 and 18:00–22:00
• Yarn Bombing, textile art installation (AssemblAbili GlobAli OdV) – Cavour metro exit, Piazza della Suburra – installation on view across the three days, with an open workshop 10:30–12:30

Roving events (all three days)

• Rugantino & Rosetta – roving, starting from Via del Pozzuolo – 18:00–20:00
• Lodi Circus, a circus show with stilt-walkers, acrobats and jugglers – roving – Friday and Saturday, 20:00–22:00
• La Tavolata Monticiana – Via del Grifone – 17:00–20:00 – three open discussions with experts and institutions: Friday Environment and quality of life, Saturday Maintenance, upkeep and safety, Sunday Over-tourism and its impact on the district

Friday 9 October

• Convento di San Bonaventura (14:30–15:30) – free guided visit, booking required, limited places
• Gran Ballo dell’Ottocento (20:00–21:30) – a roving period-costume performance by the Società di Danza Circolo Nomentano, starting from Largo Corrado Ricci
• Agriculturando – extra-virgin olive oil and Rome’s farming past (from 19:00) – Via della Madonna dei Monti 86 – a talk with an Oculus virtual-reality experience, 45-minute slots, max 15 people, booking required

Saturday 10 October

• Istituto Centrale di Patologia degli Archivi e del Libro (11:30–12:30 and 14:30–15:30) – guided visit, max 25 people, booking required
• Mathias Menanteau’s violin-making workshop (12:00–13:00 and 16:30–17:30) – visit, max 15 people, booking required
• Convento di San Bonaventura (14:30–15:30) – free guided visit, booking required
• All’ombra delle Torri (16:30) – roving guided tour with Dr Alessandra Rossi, meeting point in Piazza del Grillo
• Rione writers in the bookshop (17:00–18:00) – Libreria 220, Via Panisperna 220
• Schola Cantorum di Roma, sacred music (18:30–20:00) – Santa Maria ai Monti parish church
• Marco Agamennone on the Capofarfa farm (19:00–20:00) – Via Madonna dei Monti 86

Sunday 11 October

• Fitness & More with Rome by Run and WIP Fitness (from 09:00) – Piazza Madonna dei Monti and Largo Gaetana Agnesi – a running tour of about 7 km at 9:00, HYROX functional training for adults at 10:00 and 11:00, WIP Kids (ages 8–16) at 12:00 – free, limited places
• Games for children (11:00–13:00) – Via Baccina at the corner of Via del Grifone – free ice cream from Il Gelatone for the children taking part
• Gli uomini illustri di Monti (11:00) – roving guided tour with Dr Alessandra Rossi, meeting point in Piazza Madonna dei Monti
• Il cinema a Monti (16:00) – roving guided tour with Dr Alessandra Rossi, meeting point in Piazza Madonna dei Monti

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Workshops

Hands-on, informative sessions blending tradition, craft and creativity, open to the public and in many cases by booking.

• Mani che creano – LabCreativo (Arte e Moda in Corso, FITEL) – Via dei Serpenti 35 – free workshops in crochet and amigurumi, sewing and dressmaking, watercolour and creative arts, with demonstrations of embroidery and tatting. Saturday: crochet 15:00–16:30 (max 20) and watercolour 16:30–18:30 (max 15). Info: 388 1626760
• Lost-wax craftwork and life drawing – Sottobosco, Via Baccina 40 – Friday and Saturday, 10:30–23:00
• Candle Store, workshop with Koche Dama – Via dei Serpenti 127 – Friday and Saturday, 17:00–18:30 – max 4 people, by booking
• Gold leaf on fabric + demonstration – Via degli Zingari 37 – Saturday, 11:00–13:00
• Build your own themed book, workshop for children (ages 4–8) – Libreria 220, Via Panisperna 220 – Saturday, 15:00–21:30
• Yarn Bombing, textile art workshop – Cavour metro exit, Piazza della Suburra – across the three days, 10:30–12:30 – open to all, learn to make woollen flowers with the volunteers
• Agriculturando, extra-virgin olive oil between health and history – Via della Madonna dei Monti 86 – across the three days from 19:00, 45-minute slots, max 15 people, booking required, with an Oculus virtual-reality experience on the world of the olive tree

Click here to read the full program

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9-11 October 2026

Monti Neigbourhood

ottobratamonticiana.com

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Programme and highlights of Romaeuropa Festival 2026

The 41st edition of the Romaeuropa Festival is shaping up to be one of its richest yet: 100 shows featuring 1,000 artists from around the world, bringing REF2026 to life with a programme of music, theatre, dance, digital arts and productions for children.

Once again directed by Fabrizio Grifasi, this year’s edition offers more than two months of performances across numerous venues in the capital, an invitation to listen and to see artistic creation as something still alive and necessary.

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INTERNATIONAL SCENE

This edition brings a wealth of major international names. Flemish choreographer Michiel Vandevelde, together with the BRYGGEN-Bruges Strings ensemble, takes to the stage at Teatro Argentina with The Four Seasons Changed, a staged concert that translates into space Max Richter’s reworking of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. Sasha Waltz returns to dance with Bach Cello Suites Dance, set to the Cello Suites by J.S. Bach performed by cellist Anastasia Kobekina.

There’s also French choreographer Boris Charmatz, back at the Festival with Muette, an intimate and radical solo, and Britain’s Ben Duke, who reinvents Hamlet as a contemporary anti-hero in a show that weaves together dance, theatre, stand-up and irony to question the meaning of life. Franco-Algerian Nacera Belaza returns too, forming an intense duo with Valérie Dréville in a performance where gesture meets space.

At Teatro Costanzi, Opera Ballet Vlaanderen presents a programme of works by Jan Martens, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and Christos Papadopoulos, three names who have appeared at the Festival many times. Papadopoulos himself directs Greek dancer Georgios Kotsifakis in Landless, continuing his personal exploration of rhythm, repetition and the transformation of movement. Also from Greece, choreographer Katerina Andreou joins Carte Blanche, Norway’s national dance company, bringing fourteen performers together in How Romantic.

Some of the dance programme is designed to reach every generation and audience: Le Pas du Monde by the remarkable Collectif XY, at Teatro Olimpico, speaks to all ages with its shifting landscapes, while Morocco’s Groupe Acrobatique de Tanger returns under the direction of Raphaëlle Boitel with a new creation in which acrobatic power meets a formal, poetic language. From South Korea, Eun-Me Ahn blends ritual, new circus, pop culture, eccentricity and colour in her Post-Orientalist Express.

Also from South Korea, director Jaha Koo, winner of the International Ibsen Award, presents Haribo Kimchi: a real street-food stall fills the stage, turning the making of the traditional Korean fermented cabbage into an autobiographical and symbolic gesture.

Memory takes centre stage for India’s Pankaj Tiwari and Portuguese director Tiago Rodrigues too. The first, with The Harvest of Broken Promises, tells of the transformation of Indian agriculture under the influence of global agribusiness; the second fills the stage with the memory of his father in No Yogurt for the Dead, a tribute built around the unfinished notes he left behind.

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ITALIAN DANCE AND THEATRE

One of the directors who has most deeply shaped the Festival’s history returns to Romaeuropa: Romeo Castellucci, with his new creation Faust. Fatto, non detto, a radical theatrical experience that probes the figure of the artist, suspended between condemnation and redemption, reality and vision.

At Teatro Vascello, Marta Cuscunà makes her national premiere with her latest production, La Medium, the true story of Hersilie Rouy, daughter of the illusionist Charles Rouy, confined to an asylum for fourteen years, in a world that weaves together illusionism and gives voice to “invisible women”. Director Giorgina Pi reworks the figure of Philoctetes from a female perspective in Lemnos, intertwining myth and the present.

Also at Teatro Vascello, Pietro Giannini presents his new work STARMAN – The True Story of Leon Skum, a concrete yet visionary portrait that questions the myth of technology in the age of Elon Musk. Giacomo Bisordi, with Fabrizio Sinisi, brings the novel Il Prodigio to the stage with actors Chiara Ferrara, Gabriele Portoghese and Federica Rosellini, while Ubu Prize winner Marco D’Agostin, alongside dancer Marta Ciappina, gathers in Catalogo a moving mosaic of farewells, in which a dancer’s final performance becomes a choral score on leave-taking, shaped through the eyes of choreographers and directors such as Silvia Gribaudi, Francesca Pennini / CollettivO CineticO, Sotterraneo and Emio Greco / Pieter C. Scholten.

At the Mattatoio, the cycle HEIMAT – Homeland/Foreigner unfolds, created with the “Silvio d’Amico” National Academy of Dramatic Art: five days of performance in which Fabiana Iacozzilli, Thom Luz, Ersan Mondtag, Leonardo Lidi and Leonardo Manzan direct the same performers from the Academy’s second-level acting course, using a shared stage device to build a plural reflection on identity and belonging.

Still in Testaccio, the female body and its representation are at the heart of CAN CAN, a show born from the meeting of director Giovanni Ortoleva, winner of the National Critics’ Prize, and actress Irene Mantova. Director Piero Maccarinelli presents a reading of L’ora dei predatori by Giuliano da Empoli with Elisabetta Pozzi and Tullio Solenghi, followed by a talk on the book’s themes.

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MUSIC

Music has a major place in the Festival’s programme, moving between experimentation, pop and contemporary composition: Osmium, the project born from the meeting of cellist Hildur Guðnadóttir and James Ginzburg; a concert by Kangding Ray, presenting his new AV live show Superfluid; and the award-winning percussion ensemble Third Coast Percussion in dialogue with composer, performer and electronic musician Jlin.

For the first time at the Festival, Vinicio Capossela appears too, presenting with Pierpaolo Capovilla And Death Shall Have No Dominion, a ballad opera loosely drawn from the life of Renato Striglia and the work of Dylan Thomas.

There are several tributes marking the anniversaries of the great 20th-century masters: for Steve Reich’s ninetieth birthday, a homage from Blow Up Percussion with performances of works such as Pendulum Music, Drumming and Come Out; while for the centenary of Hans Werner Henze’s birth, Romaeuropa presents Voices, in partnership with the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, a powerful civic and poetic work entrusted to the New European Ensemble conducted by Carlo Boccadoro.

In the Sala Santa Cecilia of the Auditorium, pianists Maki Namekawa and Thomas Enhco go head to head interpreting one of the most celebrated piano works of the 20th century, Keith Jarrett’s The Köln Concert, while The Avex Ensemble performs a special film-concert dedicated to the iconic Blade Runner soundtrack by Vangelis.

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KIDS

The REF Kids & Family section offers three weekends of free shows and activities in music, theatre and new circus, curated by Stefania Lo Giudice. The spaces of La Pelanda are transformed into an area for children and families, with a programme of performances and a playground of games and hands-on activities.

Highlights range from Flanders’ ZONZO, bringing jazz to the youngest audiences, to a focus on the Catalan scene with the magic show Maginarium by Pau Segalés and Copiar by Animal Religion, which invites children from the audience on stage. From the Netherlands, de Dansers offer a joyful journey through the body with A Small Anatomy, while Japan’s Kenji Shinohe brings manga culture to a teenage audience with Action Briquette Z – Manga, Beat & Dance.

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Closing

The grand finale on 15 November promises to be a true musical marathon, a great collective ritual of listening in which musicians take over the main hall of the Auditorium Parco della Musica in a closing event that moves across repertoires, audiences and moods. Twelve hours of concerts, with an afternoon that anticipates the celebrations for Philip Glass’s ninetieth birthday (January 2027) through a complete performance of the Études by Vanessa Wagner and of Águas da Amazônia by Third Coast Percussion, with the start and end of the day in the Sala Santa Cecilia devoted entirely to Enrico Melozzi’s Classical Rave Party.

The morning is dedicated to 100 Cellos with Giovanni Sollima; the evening to the Orchestra Notturna Clandestina, with special guests including Alessandro Baricco, Gloria Campaner, Elsa Lila, Anastasio and Fasma, breaking down the boundaries between academia and real life, between concert and celebration.

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Venues and Tickets

The Romaeuropa Festival 2026 takes place across various spaces in the city, from historic theatres to museums and cultural institutions. The 2026 venues are:

• American Academy in Rome, Via Angelo Masina 5
• Auditorium Conciliazione, Via della Conciliazione 4
• Auditorium Parco della Musica, Via Pietro de Coubertin 30
• Mattatoio, Piazza Orazio Giustiniani 4
• MAXXI, Via Guido Reni 4a
• Teatro Argentina, Largo di Torre Argentina 52
• Teatro Brancaccio, Via Merulana 244
• Teatro dell’Opera di Roma (Costanzi), Piazza Beniamino Gigli
• Teatro India, Lungotevere Vittorio Gassman 1
• Teatro Olimpico, Piazza Gentile da Fabriano 17
• Teatro Valle, Via del Teatro Valle 21
• Teatro Vascello, Via Giacinto Carini 78
• Villa Medici, Viale della Trinità dei Monti 1

Tickets can be purchased online at romaeuropa.net through Vivaticket. For information and assistance, the box office is available on +39 06 4555 3050, also on WhatsApp, Monday to Friday (10am-1pm / 2pm-6pm).

 Download the full program

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Rome’s riverside theatre becomes an open air cultural village from 14 to 31 July, with over 40 events and more than 50 artists

There’s a corner of Rome where summer tastes like a dream. From 14 to 31 July 2026, India Città Aperta returns for its second edition: the summer festival of Teatro di Roma, created with Dominio Pubblico, transforms the spaces of Teatro India, from the outdoor Arena to the stage nestled in the greenery of the Canneto, into a buzzing cultural village in the shadow of the Gazometro, the iconic gas holder of the Ostiense district.

The thread running through this edition is the dream: an oneiric dimension inspired by the poetics of Pier Paolo Pasolini, unfolding across more than 40 events with over 50 artists spanning theatre, dance, music, publishing, installations and projects for younger audiences. Best of all, most events are free to attend, while ticketed shows have a flat price of just 10 euros.

The opening night

The festival kicks off on Tuesday 14 July with a free opening party: Roman rapper and songwriter Piotta brings his Si riparano ricordi tour to the Arena, preceded on the Canneto stage by cartoonist and musician Davide Toffolo with Giulio D’Antona and their live drawn performance about legendary publisher Giangiacomo Feltrinelli.

Theatre highlights

The hottest ticket is on 16 July, when acclaimed actor Elio Germano and composer Teho Teardo present Il sogno di una cosa, based on Pasolini’s novel. Also worth marking in your calendar: spoken word star Lorenzo Maragoni with Tipico maschio italiano (17 July), Chiara Becchimanzi‘s Eroina (19 July) and comedian Paola Minaccioni‘s semi-serious reflection on happiness, La vita è bella? No, è un tipo (25 July).

Music, dance and a night at the opera

The music programme revolves around NeroIndia. Siamo fatti di canzoni, a series curated by Studionero and Giulia Ananìa featuring some of the finest voices of the new Italian songwriting scene: Emma Nolde (17 July), Giovanni Truppi (25 July) and Matteo Alieno (30 July). On 24 July, the Instant Composing Society led by Rodrigo D’Erasmo blends improvised live music and film, with actress Isabella Ragonese as special guest.

New this year is a section dedicated to contemporary dance, featuring Stefania Tansini‘s L’ombelico dei limbi (22 July) and the jump rope fuelled energy of HIT OUT by Parini Secondo (26 July). On 28 July the Arena even turns lyrical with ONIRICON, staged by the young artists of the Rome Opera House’s “Fabbrica” programme.

Families, talks and the grand finale

There’s plenty for kids and families too, from the historic Podrecca marionettes (21 to 24 July) to Antonio Catalano’s poetic installations. The talks calendar is packed: book presentations curated by Feltrinelli, which also runs the festival bookstore, a conversation between film director Mario Martone and writer Nicola Lagioia (23 July), plus events with Rome Future Week and the city’s liveliest cultural magazines. The festival closes on 31 July with the BeiRicordi Show, Rome’s beloved showcase for emerging performers.

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Tickets and info

• 14 to 31 July 2026
• Teatro India, Lungotevere Vittorio Gassman 1 (Ostiense/Marconi)
• Free entry unless otherwise indicated; ticketed shows 10 euros (kids’ shows: 10 euros adults, 7 euros children)
• Download the full programme (PDF)
• Info and tickets: teatrodiroma.net

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Ten days of contemporary creation across Rome, from 3 to 12 September

From 3 to 12 September 2026, Rome hosts the 21st edition of Short Theatre, the international festival dedicated to contemporary creation and the performing arts. Over ten days, more than 65 events by some 40 companies and artists from Italy, Spain, France, Poland, Hungary, Algeria, Libya, Eritrea, Cameroon, Rwanda, Mexico and China take over the city. Expect a program that blends art, critical thought and politics, mapping today’s artistic geographies across the Global South and East.

The festival’s home base is La Pelanda at the Mattatoio, the former slaughterhouse turned arts hub in Testaccio, with events also at Teatro India, where the festival was born twenty years ago, Teatro Vittoria, Cinema Troisi, the MACRO – Museum of Contemporary Art and the MUCIV – Museum of Civilizations

The opening night at Rome’s Botanical Garden

ST26 opens on 3 September (6-10 pm) in one of the city’s most enchanting settings: the Botanical Garden of Rome in Trastevere, with a continuous flow of performances, sound rituals and site-specific interventions among the greenhouses, including Hungarian choreographer Eszter Salamon‘s celebrated Dance for Nothing (revisited), based on John Cage’s Lecture on Nothing, and the sound ritual Naturale sconosciuto by poet Mariangela Gualtieri at dusk.

Highlights of the program

Among the must-sees: Alberto Cortès‘ El corazón de Ester, a performance that will be staged only 50 times worldwide, two of them at ST26 (4-5 September, Teatro Vittoria); Chiara Bersani‘s Michel. The animals I am, which reimagines Swan Lake through three performers with disabilities; François Chaignaud & Aymeric Hainaux‘s Mirlitons, where opera singing battles beatbox (8-9 September); the Italian premiere of L’Echo by French-Algerian choreographer Nacera Belaza with actress Valérie Dréville, co-presented with Romaeuropa Festival (10-11 September, Teatro India); and Muna Mussie‘s Cinema Impero, a three-part journey through Italy’s colonial archives staged at Cinema Troisi, MUCIV and MACRO. Closing the festival on 12 September, Claudia Castellucci‘s dance piece L’Infinito Carnale.

Throughout the festival, DJs and live acts — from queer scene icon HABIBITCH to Chinese experimental artist otay:onii — soundtrack the evenings at La Pelanda, alongside free talks and workshops open to all.

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The festival venues

• Mattatoio di Roma (Piazza Orazio Giustiniani, Testaccio)
• Orto Botanico di Roma (Largo Cristina di Svezia, Trastevere)
• Teatro India (Lungotevere Vittorio Gassman, Ostiense)
• Teatro Vittoria (Piazza di Santa Maria Liberatrice, Testaccio)
• MACRO – Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome (Via Nizza 138)
• Cinema Troisi (Via Girolamo Induno 1, Trastevere)
• MUCIV – Museum of Civilizations (Piazza Guglielmo Marconi 14, EUR)

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Rome’s most futuristic cultural celebration, Videocittà – The Festival of Vision and Digital Culture, is back

From 10 to 12 July 2026, Videocittà – The Festival of Vision and Digital Culture – returns to Rome’s Gazometro for its ninth edition.

Light installations, immersive and interactive experiences, VR, video art, A/V live shows, DJ sets, talks and performances will once again animate the Gazometro di Roma, one of Europe’s largest urban industrial archaeology sites.

After previous editions dedicated to the Moon, Earth, Galaxy and Sun, Videocittà 2026 focuses on water: the origin of life, an essential resource and a universal symbol connecting cultures, landscapes and imaginaries. Across installations, performances and talks, the festival explores water’s ecological, political and cultural value.

Among this year’s highlights is the arrival of German composer, musician and producer Apparat. His iconic track Black Water will become part of In Lympha, a major immersive installation conceived and produced by Eni in collaboration with Videocittà, hosted at Opificio 41 throughout the festival. Apparat will also perform a special DJ set on Saturday 11 July on the Main Stage, moving between electronic, ambient and experimental sounds.

CLICK HERE TO DISCOVER THE FULL PROGRAMME

INSPIRATION
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UNDA is another major new feature: a site-specific light installation produced by Eni for Videocittà and created by Visioni Parallele and Niulab, with executive production by Eventitaliani. For the first time, the Gazometro G4 becomes an artwork visible exclusively from the outside, transforming into a luminous urban landmark inspired by the movement of water.

The central structure among the three smaller gasometers, known as G2, becomes a space where images, technology and live performance meet. Oceans, rivers and rain from around the world shape Water: always the same, always different, an immersive installation combining the work of Giuseppe La Spada, the sounds of Francesca Heart and the movement research of Brazilian performer Amanda Lana.

Chinese artist Cao Yuxi also makes his festival debut with the Italian premiere of Nature’s Computility, an enveloping immersive waterfall that uses algorithms to translate the flow of water into high-resolution dynamic visualisations.

Audio-Visual Music

The audio-visual music section turns water into a sound and visual experience, with a Main Stage conceived as a hybrid between installation and performance space. On 10 July, the programme opens with Sara Persico and Mika Oki, winners of the Videocittà Awards 2025 for AV performance, followed by an audiovisual DJ set by Mace with Sugo Design.

On 11 July, Nziria presents Syysma, followed by Populous live with visuals by Furio Ganz. The evening closes with Apparat.

On 12 July, the Main Stage hosts Voices From The Lake, the project by Donato Dozzy and Neel, alongside Liminal State with FREEFALL, a live AV improvisation where sound, music, light and generative visuals unfold in real time.

Virtual reality experiences

At the Anfiteatro, Videocittà presents the world premiere of In Pinus, an Italian VR experience dedicated to the stone pine, produced by Impersive for Videocittà in collaboration with the Presidential Estate of Castelporziano as part of the European project CO-VISION.

On the first floor of G3, audiences will discover L’acqua in virtual reality, a selection of four VR experiences presented in their Italian premiere by Diversion: Jellyfish, Biolum, Plastisapiens and The world came flooding in. The section also includes Sweet end of the world!, a VR documentary by Stefano Conca Bonizzoni selected from the Rai Cinema VR library.

Video art

Curated by Damiana Leoni and Rä di Martino, the Video Art section presents works by leading international artists on 10 July, including Shahzia Sikander, FLATFORM, Cecilia Bengolea and Monira Al Qadiri, all exploring water through different visual and narrative languages.

On 11 July, internationally renowned artist Adrian Paci presents, in dialogue with the curators, the works Turn on, Di queste luci si servirà la notte and The Column, a powerful reflection on labour, cultural identity and the dialogue between East and West.

The Tiber, a vital presence in Rome, is at the centre of Tommaso Cherubini’s new digital artwork Invisible Ecologies: Tevere, presented as a world premiere. Confluence, produced by Signal as part of CO-VISION, focuses instead on one of Europe’s largest floodplain forests.

Interactive works also take over the garden with Particle Catharsis by Giuseppe La Spada and Maelstrom by Lake Heckaman, curated by Luca Martinelli and powered by RNMW. Meanwhile, OS Ocean Suite, created by CMCC with Nova System Academy and Planetaria, transforms climate data into an immersive sound experience.

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AQUA talks

The festival’s programme of talks opens on 10 July with a meeting on water scarcity, intense rainfall, prevention, adaptation and “sponge neighbourhoods”, introduced by Giulio Boccaletti, Scientific Director of CMCC.

On 11 July, the discussion turns to the lessons of ancient Rome, from baths and fountains to the role of water in the history of the Caput Mundi. On 12 July, the focus shifts to seas and oceans in a changing world, exploring geopolitics, navigation, energy, underwater resources, communications and security.

The programme continues with three informal AQUA talks, where new media scholar Simone Arcagni meets artists, creators and thinkers including N.A.I.P., Valentina Tanni, Siamounmagazine, Eki, Valerio Ferrara, Elisabetta Modena, Vino, Matilde De Feo and Federico Ferrazza.

Videocittà also hosts the IGPDecaux Graphic Award, revealing three winning works that reinterpret Rome as the “Eternal City” through the new frontiers of artificial intelligence.

Agorà returns

On 9 and 10 July, Agorà returns as Videocittà’s professional programme, coordinated by Guido Pietro Airoldi. Dedicated to the internationalisation of Italy’s creative technologies, immersive audiovisual, digital art and contemporary cultural industries, it brings together operators, buyers, curators, institutions, festivals, studios and companies.

Arte al Gazometro

During Videocittà, the third edition of Arte al Gazometro opens with “Riflessi”, a widespread exhibition of installations and site-specific works by national and international artists. Curated by Marco Capasso in collaboration with the galleries Il Sole, Orma and Eidos, the exhibition explores water as an active force of transformation.

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Tickets for Videocittà 2026

For its 2026 edition, Videocittà introduces a new accessibility policy, aiming to make the festival and its artistic, immersive and performative experiences even more open and inclusive.

Tickets will be available at the following prices:

• Daily Ticket: €20
• 3-Day Full Pass: €50
• Free entry for children under 12

Entrance is from Via del Commercio 9/11. Doors and ticket office open to the public from 7pm.

Rome Summer Festivals 2026

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One of Rome’s most atmospheric summer cultural events returns to Castel Sant’Angelo with a new edition of L’Angelo e la Luna, the evening festival curated by Anna Selvi and promoted by the Istituto Pantheon e Castel Sant’Angelo – Direzione Musei nazionali della città di Roma.

From July 2 to October 4, 2026, the historic fortress will host a rich programme of 15 performances and 41 repeats, bringing together Italian and international artists across contemporary circus, dance, theatre, performance and live music. The festival will unfold through the many evocative spaces of Castel Sant’Angelo, transforming its courtyards, halls, bastions and terraces into open-air stages after dark.

The 2026 edition opens on July 2 with a concert by Baba Yaga, one of the most interesting emerging names on the international music scene. The band will present its latest album, Grenzenlos, with an energetic and virtuoso sound that blends Balkan rhythms, klezmer melodies, swing and gypsy jazz.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FULL PROGRAM

Dance performances

Dance will play a central role in this year’s programme. On July 16 at 9pm, the Courtyard of Alexander VI will host Cuor di Coniglio, a dance performance for adults and children aged 6 and up. Conceived as a modern fairy tale, the show explores fragility, courage and the importance of self-acceptance.

On July 23 at 9pm, Segni. Excursus will bring together contemporary music and dance in a performance curated by Michelangelo Lupone and Ricky Bonavita, also taking place in the Courtyard of Alexander VI.

On August 5 and 6, audiences can experience Promenade, an itinerant dance and theatre performance for adults and children aged 8 and up, with two performances each evening at 7pm and 9.45pm. Also on August 5 at 8.30pm, the Courtyard of Alexander VI will host Partita, created and performed by Ambra Senatore and Jonathan Kingsley Seilman, where dance and music interact in a continuous dialogue.

On September 2, with performances at 7pm and 9.30pm, dancers and choreographers Riva & Repele will present an evening of dance and music in the Courtyard of Alexander VI.

Contemporary circus at Castel Sant’Angelo

One of the highlights of the festival will be Il Castello degli Angeli ostinati, a site-specific itinerant circus performance created by circus playwright Giacomo Costantini.

Taking place on July 28, 29 and 30, and August 1 and 2, with performances at 7.30pm and 9.30pm, the show will lead audiences through a double route inside Castel Sant’Angelo, moving across the Courtyard of the Theatre, the Sala Paolina, the Courtyard of the Angel, the Library and the panoramic terrace.

Music

Music will also feature in the programme with two special events. On August 12 at 9pm, 100 Miles. The Journey Continues will present a project of original compositions inspired by the artistic vision and innovative spirit of Miles Davis.

On August 26, with performances at 7pm and 9.30pm in the beautiful Sala Paolina, Gennaro Lauro will perform Mondo.

Theatre and performance

The theatre programme opens on July 10 at 9pm with L’anima del mondo per Adriano imperatore, nostro contemporaneo, staged in the Courtyard of Alexander VI.

On September 9 at 9pm, the Bastion of San Matteo will host Every Brilliant Thing, winner of the 2022 Franco Enriquez National Award.

On September 16, with performances at 7pm and 9.30pm, AeReA will take over the Courtyard of Alexander VI with a performance centred on the symbolic and spectacular art of flag-waving.

On September 23, the programme features a double bill: Io, a cult theatre piece created in 1998 by artists later awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Biennale, and Pitecus, a sharp and surreal portrait of a chaotic microcosm of characters.

The festival closes on October 4 at 9pm with Francesco, l’angelo degli ultimi, a moving recital in the Courtyard of Alexander VI dedicated to the life and stories of one of the most beloved saints.

Info and tickets

Admission to the performances is subject to availability and is included in the museum ticket by selecting the “museum + performance” option at the time of purchase.

Tickets can be purchased through the Musei Italiani App, online via CoopCulture, or directly at the Castel Sant’Angelo ticket office.

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In the evocative setting of the Roman Theatre of Ostia, a series of performances interweaving classical myth with contemporary language

From June 25 to July 18, 2026, the second edition of the Teatro Ostia Antica Festival 2026, entitled The Sense of the Past, will take place. In the extraordinary setting of the Roman Theatre of Ostia, the festival presents an international programme that intertwines the power of classical myth with the languages of the contemporary world, offering a reflection on the challenges of the present.

From Greek tragedy to avant-garde dance, the Festival stands out for the encounter between tradition and the innovation of the contemporary scene, through the creations of four masters of the national and international stage: Theodoros Terzopoulos, Asterios Peltekis, Angelin Preljocaj and Filippo Dini.

For all Festival performances, a shuttle service is available from the Roman Theatre of Ostia to Rome Piramide, in collaboration with Come Back Home, at a cost of €15.

INSPIRATION
Ostia Antica Guided Half-Day Trip

The Programme

The Festival opens on June 25 and 26 with The Bacchae by Euripides, directed for the seventh time by the great Greek master Theodoros Terzopoulos, who comments on the tragedy as follows:

“The Bacchae is an emblematic tragedy for my theatrical vision. It is extremely important to present it at this moment, where Dionysus embodies the archetype of the refugee: having set out from Tmolos three thousand years ago, he travelled through the war zones of the Middle East and ends up today in the Mediterranean Sea, on the shores of Crete or Lampedusa. He returns to us as a stranger and invites us to sacrifice our body on the altar of the Unknown and the Transcendent.”

Theodoros Terzopoulos

On July 4 and 5, Lysistrata by Aristophanes will take the stage: a deeply political and human work centred on the moment when a society, exhausted by suffering, urgently seeks a new way of organising itself. The archetypal figure of the heroine does not propose reforms, nor does she introduce new institutional arrangements. On the contrary, Lysistrata proposes something entirely different: the restoration of the body, desire, care and collective responsibility as political action.

On July 10 and 11, the spotlight turns to dance with Requiem(s), directed by Angelin Preljocaj: an intense reflection on memory, loss and the profound relationship between life and death. A series of choreographies brings to the stage a procession of bodies, seeking to place into perspective the mosaic of emotions experienced after a loss.

The programme closes on July 18 with Alcestis by Euripides, directed by Filippo Dini, which tells the story of an unacceptable death, that of a sacrificial victim.

“Alcestis is frightening because it is the story of a woman who, driven only by the blessed fury of her love for her husband, chooses to die in his place. And it is frightening because she returns from Hades. Four centuries before Christ, an extraordinary woman sacrifices herself for love and returns from death. The woman who comes back from down there is not the same one who left: this Alcestis has now seen and experienced horror and despair beyond all limits. It makes me think of the journey of women through history, from the beginning of time to the present day, of their evolution, their tragic daily deaths, and their possibility of returning from horror to finally confront the object of their infinite love.”

Filippo Dini

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The Palatine Stadium will host the 25th edition of one of the most beloved summer cultural festivals in the Capital

Celebrating its 25th year, the International Literature Festival will bring together esteemed Italian and international authors who have made significant contributions to contemporary literature.

As always, the stunning Stadio Palatino, located within the Colosseum Archaeological Park, will provide the backdrop for the festival. A final special event has been added on July 18 at the Idroscalo of Ostia. This year’s edition will unfold over three evenings: June 19, 20, and 21.

The title of this edition is “Sconfinare” (“Crossing Boundaries”), a word that evokes the act of moving beyond imposed limits: those of the body, of roles and of language. In this sense, sconfinare becomes the defining verb of this edition, with each evening shaped around a specific theme: “Who Writes the World. Women and Power Dynamics”, “Against the Wind. Stories of Resistance”, and “Invisible Maps. The Power of Words.”

The guest authors, leading voices from the contemporary Italian and international literary scene, will be invited to take the prestigious stage of the Palatine Hill to interpret each evening’s theme and attempt to decipher the world we live in today.

Discover the programme of the 2026 Festival delle Letterature

June 19

The first evening, on Friday, June 19, “Who Writes the World. Women and Power Dynamics”, will open with an unpublished text by journalist and writer Concita De Gregorio, a long-standing signature of La Repubblica. This will be followed by American writer Rachel Kushner, one of the most original and compelling voices on the American literary scene, in conversation with Marino Sinibaldi.

One of the greatest poets of our time, Patrizia Valduga, a free, sharp and ironic voice as well as a refined translator, will then take the stage of the Palatine with an unpublished text.

The evening will continue with French writer, literary critic and translator Neige Sinno, author of the award-winning autobiographical novel Triste tigre, who will present an unpublished text and take part in a conversation with writer Rosella Postorino.

For the first time at the Festival, the unpublished work will not be a written text but a live drawing performance by award-winning cartoonist and activist Fumettibrutti, a disruptive author whose comics have given powerful and original form to often invisible experiences, bringing issues related to gender identity to the forefront.

Music by Chiara Civello.

June 20

The second evening, on Saturday, June 20, “Against the Wind. Stories of Resistance”, will open with a tribute to the great Iranian-born French cartoonist and filmmaker Marjane Satrapi, a committed voice for individual freedom, women’s rights and democracy, and author of the acclaimed graphic novel Persepolis, which brought the story of Iran to the world.

The evening will then feature an unpublished text by journalist and writer Widad Tamimi.

There will be two interviews during the evening. The first will feature Ahmet Altan, appearing in Italy for the first time since his release from prison. One of the best-known contemporary Turkish journalists and writers, Altan was imprisoned under Erdoğan’s regime for crimes of opinion and later released in 2021 thanks to a broad solidarity movement in Turkey and across Europe.

Pietro Sermonti, actor and star of successful television and film comedies, will then take the stage of the Palatine for a true preview. He will read Open Letter from a Writer to the Military Junta, written by Rodolfo Walsh, writer, journalist and political activist, on March 24, 1977, on the first anniversary of the coup in Argentina.

The second interview will feature writer and journalist Samar Yazbek, a Syrian exile and one of the most committed and exposed intellectuals in the struggle against the Syrian regime.

One of Italy’s best-known and most beloved cartoonists, Zerocalcare, will then read an unpublished text, his first non-drawn work.

The evening will close with Ukrainian writer and journalist Yaryna Grusha, member of AISU and of the board of PEN Ukraine, and Russian journalist Vera Politkovskaya, daughter of Anna Politkovskaya, symbolically taking the stage of Letterature together. Both will read unpublished texts.

Readings by Maria Chiara Giannetta. Music by Gabriele Coen and Ziad Trabelsi.

June 21

The opening of the third evening, on Sunday, June 21, “Invisible Maps. The Power of Words”, will be entrusted to an unpublished text by Spanish poet and novelist Manuel Vilas, winner of numerous prestigious awards and contributor to various newspapers, including El País.

The evening will continue with an interview with acclaimed French writer, screenwriter and filmmaker Emmanuel Carrère, whose works have been translated around the world and who has received numerous awards.

This will be followed by an unpublished text by writer and translator Veronica Raimo, author, among other books, of Nothing True (Einaudi), translated in several countries, finalist for the 2022 Premio Strega and winner of the 2022 Premio Strega Giovani and the Premio Viareggio Rèpaci for Fiction.

Mexican writer Yuri Herrera, one of the most authoritative and original voices in contemporary Mexican fiction, will also take the stage with an unpublished text and an interview.

The evening will close with an unpublished text by Indian writer Kiran Desai, winner of the 2006 Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction, who returns after twenty years with her highly anticipated new novel The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny.

Readings by Gaetano Bruno and Neri Marcoré. Music by Erica Mou.

INSPIRATION
Best Events In June In Rome

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A month of concerts under the stars, from Gershwin and Tchaikovsky to the music of Harry Potter, in the spectacular setting of the Basilica of Maxentius.

After 47 years, the summer season of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia returns to the Basilica of Maxentius in Rome for a month of concerts under the stars. The music of composers such as Tchaikovsky, Verdi, Gershwin, Mozart and Vivaldi will accompany Roman summer evenings, together with scores by Alexandre Desplat for major film classics including Harry Potter and Little Women.

Also worth noting is the new temporary installation designed by the international studio Alvisi Kirimoto. Carefully integrated into the multifunctional stage, conceived as both a piazza for visitors and a setting for events of various kinds, the new scenography is light and carefully balanced. It was designed to engage with the monumental historical setting through a contemporary yet restrained language, with a semicircular tiered structure accommodating up to 90 orchestral players and a circular element placed in the apse to host 80 chorus members.

The season opens on Thursday, 2 July at 9pm with young pianist Alexander Malofeev in a gala dedicated to Tchaikovsky, featuring the Piano Concerto No. 1 and the Fifth Symphony.

The programme continues on 4 July, when street dance meets the Baroque in Mourad Merzouki’s Dancing Four Seasons. The director and choreographer is joined by Compagnie Käfig and Concert de la Loge, with Julien Chauvin as solo violinist and conductor.

On 9 July, the series pays tribute to great cinema with composer Alexandre Desplat, who will conduct some of his most celebrated soundtracks, including Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Imitation Game, The Queen, The Shape of Water and other films. Over the past twenty years, Desplat has received 11 Academy Award nominations for Best Original Score, winning the coveted statuette for The Grand Budapest Hotel and The Shape of Water.

CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS

On 15 July, Diego Ceretta conducts the Orchestra Nazionale dei Conservatori and the Santa Cecilia Chorus in a tribute to Giuseppe Verdi, featuring choruses, overtures and ballet music from some of his most celebrated operas.

On 17 July, Music Director Daniel Harding will take the podium alongside pianist Stefano Bollani for Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. The programme also includes Ravel’s Alborada del gracioso and Mussorgsky/Ravel’s Pictures at an Exhibition.

The Massenzio series continues on 21 July with the talent of the very young Martina Meola, winner of the Jeune Chopin 2025, in an evening dedicated to Chopin. The month will close with two further events: Mozart’s Requiem, conducted by Jérémie Rhorer, on 24 July, and Concerto Köln on 29 July, featuring Baroque music by Handel and Vivaldi.

INSPIRATION
Best Summer Festivals in Rome

THE PROGRAMME

La Notte Bianca: Tchaikovsky Gala

Thursday, 2 July 2026 – 9pm

Tchaikovsky, Piano Concerto No. 1 and Symphony No. 5

Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia
conductor Manfred Honeck
piano Alexander Malofeev

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The Dancing Four Seasons – Hip-Hop Meets Vivaldi

Saturday, 4 July 2026 – 9pm

Compagnie Käfig – Le Concert de la Loge
direction and choreography Mourad Merzouki
solo violin and musical direction Julien Chauvin
lighting design Cécile Trelluyer

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The Cinematic World of Alexandre Desplat – Harry Potter and Oscar-Winning Scores

Thursday, 9 July 2026 – 9pm

Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia
conductor Alexandre Desplat

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Verdi Gala – Choruses, Overtures and Ballet Music from His Most Celebrated Operas

Wednesday, 15 July 2026 – 9pm

Orchestra Nazionale dei Conservatori
Coro dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia
conductor Diego Ceretta

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Rhapsody in Blue – Harding feat. Bollani

Friday, 17 July 2026 – 9pm

Orchestra
dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia
conductor Daniel Harding
piano Stefano Bollani

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Chopin Nocturne – Mazurkas, Waltzes, Polonaises, Ballades and Nocturnes

Tuesday, 21 July 2026 – 9pm

pianist Martina Meola – “Jeune Chopin 2025” prize winner

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Mozart Requiem – The Final Masterpiece

Friday, 24 July 2026 – 9pm

Orchestra and Chorus
of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia
conductor Jérémie Rhorer
soprano Mei Gui Zhang – alto Anna Doris Capitelli
tenor Duke Kim – bass Guilhem Worms

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Music for the Crown – Handel and the Great Baroque Celebrations on the Thames

Wednesday, 29 July 2026 – 9pm

Concerto Köln

CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS

Rome Summer Festivals 2026

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From 12 to 17 May, Rome becomes a free, open-air fashion stage as Rome Fashion Path returns with its citywide celebration of fashion, creativity, and contemporary Italian design.

For those looking to deepen their Italian fashion knowledge, or simply enjoy the unadulterated freedom creativity brings, Rome Fashion Path, now in its third edition, provides an abundance of opportunities to do so.

The event — running from 12 to 17 May across multiple venues in Rome — is entirely dedicated to the fields of fashion, beauty, and trends. For six days, a packed program of free events will bring to life many of Rome’s most charming neighborhoods, with more than 100 names spanning ateliers, designers, artisans, vintage stores, academies, and independent spaces.

Under the patronage of the Assessorato ai Grandi Eventi, Sport, Turismo e Moda di Roma Capitale, the festival has quickly established itself as a platform that connects fashion production, craftsmanship, and experimentation across the Roman fashion scene.

Massimiliano Padovan Di Benedetto, creator of RFP, describes it as “an ecosystem where tradition and modernity meet, giving rise to a shared, open, and inclusive narrative.”

Four core categories are set to invite visitors into the spirit of Rome — and the best of Italian fashion: Showcase, Creator, Tracker, and Maker.

• Showcase features installations, presentations, and performances of the best fashion in Rome, spanning emerging talent, capsule, and vintage collections. This year’s participants include Ateliered.Isagio, Groovin, and Cavalli e Nastri. The Rome University of Fine Arts (RUFA) will host an immersive experience on 15 May, honouring the unique heritage of textiles, while the MAXXI – National Museum of 21st Century Arts bookshop will welcome the BeKora Summer 2026 Showcase, presenting garments created through social tailoring workshops bridging Italian and African textiles. Sustainability and ethical fashion remain central themes throughout the program.

• Creator invites guests into designer ateliers and workshops, to be present at the creation of fashion — all set to the rhythm of DJ sets and aperitivo. Here, visitors can discover capsule collections, meet independent designers, and experience the creative process up close. Featured names include Francesco Arduini, whose ready-to-wear label focuses on no-waste production, and Maison Luigi Borbone, which offers contemporary interpretations of traditional Italian tailoring.

• Tracker transforms the city into a fashion map; stylists, influencers, and personal shoppers guide visitors through themed routes, revealing hidden boutiques, standout showcases, and the coolest corners of Rome’s fashion scene. Expect insider recommendations and discoveries curated by names such as Roberto Romeo, Mary D’Angelo, and Gaia Bartolucci, uncovering Rome’s evolving fashion landscape.

• Maker highlights the creatives who define every runway moment behind the scenes. Here, the spotlight is on photographers, make-up artists, hair stylists, and agencies — with live demonstrations, talks, and interactive events bringing their work to the forefront. The category also highlights initiatives such as “Modelli Si Nasce” and WheelGlam, socially conscious projects dedicated to making fashion a more inclusive space for authentic self-expression.

Highlights from the 2026 Programme

This year, visitors can also expect collaborations and presentations from Giada Curreri and Andrea Antonelli, offering a glimpse into the artistry that forms the backbone of the industry. On 13 May, Fashion Unlocked at Jo&Joe Roma will feature models from Modelli si Nasce alongside creations by Alessandra Saroli, beKora, Frange Couture, Mela Wedding, and Sertorian.

This year also sees the return of RFPU30, a special project dedicated to designers under 30, who will showcase their exceptional craft in locations such as galleries and hotels connected to Rome Art Week. The initiative reinforces RFP’s commitment to supporting the next generation of fashion talent.

Events will take place across historic palazzi, ateliers, galleries, creative studios, and independent spaces — all with free entry. Visitors will be able to explore style-focused experiences across neighborhoods such as Centro Storico, Prati, Monti, Garbatella, and Piazza Bologna, where luxury knitwear label Mela Wedding will stage a runway show inside the historic Via Catania market.

Among the most anticipated moments of the week is the public opening of Sartoria Farani on 17 May, inviting visitors through iconic cinema and theatre pieces – from Fellini’s I Clowns to Barbarella’s prototype corset. The festival will close with Io Sono, Noi Siamo, a collective runway curated by Isa Giovannozzi, and will be accompanied by a vocal and piano performance by Flavia Zanasi — bringing designers, photographers, make-up artists and hairstylists together in one final collaborative showcase.

More than just a fashion event, Rome Fashion Path celebrates all facets of what makes the industry thrive — from craftsmanship and education to emerging talent and behind-the-scenes artistry — establishing Rome as one of the most creatively abundant and diverse fashion capitals.

For the full calendar of events, participating venues and registration details, visit the official Rome Fashion Path website.

INSPIRATION
Rome Shopping Guide: Uncover the Best Boutiques and Shops

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An exclusive opportunity to check out your favourite museums and archaeological sites at night

Rome’s Night of museums is back! Museums, monuments, art galleries, archaeological sites, libraries, academies and embassies in Rome and throughout Italy are open to the public for the symbolic price of €1 on Saturday night, May 23 from 8pm-2am (last admission at 1am), hosting many events including art shows, music, dance, theatre, cinema, readings, guided tours.

Among the participating museums: Capitoline Museums, Centrale Montemartini, Mercati di Traiano – Museo dei Fori Imperiali, Museo dell’Ara Pacis, Museo di Roma, Museo Napoleonico, Museo di Roma in Trastevere, Museo Pietro Canonica a Villa Borghese, Musei di Villa Torlonia (Casina delle Civette, Casino Nobile, Serra Moresca), Museo delle Mura, Museo Carlo Bilotti – Aranciera di Villa Borghese, Museo di Scultura Antica Giovanni Barracco, Museo Civico di Zoologia, Museo della Repubblica Romana e della memoria garibaldina, Galleria d’Arte Moderna, Museo di Casal de’ Pazzi and more.

Also that night in various locations, the city of Rome will host concerts and special performances and events.

For the full list of the participating museums and sites, check out museiincomuneroma.it

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From May 16 to 24, Rome welcomes back its much-loved architecture-focused event, opening over 220 sites to the public.

From 16 to 24 May, 2026, Open House Rome returns with nine days dedicated to architecture, design, and discovery. Visitors will have the rare opportunity to explore (for free) over 220 sites across the city, from contemporary architecture and historic landmarks to private homes, usually closed to the public.

The programme goes beyond guided visits, also featuring tours, events, educational activities inside some of Rome’s museums, and urban walks through neighborhoods of particular architectural interest.

Bookings will open at 6pm on April 27. To take part, visitors must register on the event’s official website: some sites will be accessible by reservation, while others may have different access procedures depending on the visit.

Part of the international Open House network, which takes place in major cities around the world, Open House Roma invites both locals and visitors to experience the city through the lens of architecture, design, and innovation.

The program includes iconic places, such as cultural institutes, representative offices, and academies (the Egyptian Academy, the Hungarian Academy, Villa Medici – French Academy…), museums, historic buildings, sites of scientific and cultural interest.

All sites can be visited by reservation through the event’s official website.

INSPIRATION
Check out the best events in Rome this May

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OPEN HOUSE 2026: HIGHLIGHTS WITH ENGLISH-LANGUAGE TOURS

Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO)

Largo delle Vittime del Terrorismo, 4
Max 60 people per visit – Duration: 75 min
English tour: Sunday 24th at 3pm

Since its founding in 1945 FAO has set itself the goal of ending hunger, achieving food security for all and improving nutrition, promoting sustainable agriculture. The FAO headquarters is housed in a complex of buildings designed in 1938 by Vittorio Cafiero and Mario Ridolfi. The tour includes a visit to the Organization’s most important and emblematic rooms and the evocative panoramic terrace; the tour concludes with a self-guided visit to FAO MuNe, where visitors can explore the artistic and cultural collection. 

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Il Palazzo dell’Agricoltura

Via XX Settembre, 20
Max 25 people per visit – Duration: 45 min
English Tour: 16 May at 4:15 p.m.

The Palazzo dell’Agricoltura, built at the beginning of the ‘900s, between the height of the Belle Epoque and the outbreak of the Great War, testifies to the fervor that in those years brought architects, engineers, artists, and workers around the construction of the Ministry: all involved in presenting the new capital of the Kingdom, a city that finally aspired to modernity. The building houses the National Historical Library of Agriculture and, recently installed, the new museum area dedicated to the renowned wheat geneticist Nazareno Strampelli.

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Palazzo INAIL

Piazza del Grillo, 1
Max 30 people per visit – Duration: 50 min.
English Tour: 23 May at 3 p.m. and 4 p.m.

Palazzo INAIL, designed by Armando Brasini and Guido Zevi, is a monumental setting on Via IV Novembre, resolving, through its base and a system of stairs harmoniously integrated into the interior spaces, the difference in height between the entrance and the Quirinale Hill. Brasini, an eclectic figure linked to the Roman construction tradition, works ornamentation as an intrinsic part of his architecture and forges it until it becomes a refined connection between the wall mass and the space.

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Villa Maraini – Swiss Institute in Rome

Via Ludovisi, 48
Max 15 people per visit – Duration: 60 min
English Tour at 2 p.m.

Villa Maraini, a jewel of early 20th-century Rome, is currently home to the Swiss Institute in Rome; it was built for Emilio Maraini, a highly successful Swiss industrialist. It stands on an artificial hill and is surrounded by a beautiful garden. From its characteristic belvedere tower, just a few meters below the dome of St. Peter’s in the Vatican, you can enjoy a splendid panoramic view of all of Rome. 

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Palazzo delle Finanze (Headquarters of the Ministry of Economy and Finance)

Via XX Settembre, 97
Max 25 people per visit – duration: 60 min
English Tour at 10:15 and 11:45 a.m.

The Palazzo delle Finanze, commissioned by Quintino Sella and designed by Raffaele Canevari, is the first major construction in Rome, the capital of the Kingdom of Italy. The historical-artistic itinerary includes: a Renaissance-style quadriportico; a historical library with volumes from the pre-unification states; the Sala Azzurra with its decorated coffered ceiling; the Sala del Parlamentino; the Sala Ciampi, formerly the Hall of the Majority, where the first Councils of Ministers were held; and the Sala dei Bronzi, with four sculptures by Giovan Battista Foggini. Also included in the visit are the Treasury Department Library, the multifunctional hub of the Department of General Accounting of the State with the Luca Pacioli Library and the Treasury Information Pool area.

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American Academy in Rome

Via Angelo Masina, 5
Max 25 people per visit – Duration: 45 min
Information in English available on request

The American Academy in Rome, founded in 1894, supports the work of innovative artists, writers, and scholars who live and work together within a dynamic international community. The main building, designed by McKim, Mead & White and completed in 1914, is the structural heart and soul of the Academy: inside are the living quarters, studios, a gallery for temporary exhibitions, administrative offices and a library with a first-rate research centre. The Academy offers a wide range of academic, artistic and cultural events each year, free of charge and open to the public.

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Shape Hunt – Archaeological walk for children in Colle Oppio (in English)

Piazza Martin Lutero
Max 25 people per visit – Duration: 90 min
English tour

Walking through Colle Oppio Park, one of the most interesting green areas in our city, children will observe numerous archaeological remains, using an art map designed by ARTandSEEK as the basis of their project, divided into two phases: the first phase involves observing the archaeological remains and finding shapes to identify on the map; during the second phase, children will transform the map into an individual artistic creation.
The workshop is conducted entirely in English with help for children who are learning the language. The educational method is based on open-ended questions and constant interaction of children with the group and the guide.

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Chiostro di San Pietro in Vincoli. Faculty of Engineering

Via Eudossiana, 18
Max 25 people per visit – duration: 80 min
Information in English available on request

The first school for the professional training of engineering was born in Rome thanks to Pope Pius VII (1817). In 1935 the school became the Faculty of Engineering, moving in 1873 to the premises of the convent of the Lateran Canons, annexed to the church of San Pietro in Vincoli. In 1918 Professor. Milani designs the complex we admire today according to the block typology with four internal courtyards. Noteworthy are the State Rooms, one of which is entirely frescoed, used for events and conferences, and the splendid Boaga Library, developed on two levels, which hosts thousands of students every day as well as a considerable number of specialist volumes.

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Discover all the activities in program to celebrate Rome’s birthday

On Monday 21^st April, Rome celebrates its 2779^th birthday, known as Natale di Roma. This annual celebration commemorates the founding of Rome by Romulus in the year 753 BC. Parades, historical re-enactments, free museums, important inaugurations are all happening on the Natale di Roma. Discover the program of events.

Gruppo Storico Romano

The historical reenactment society known as the Gruppo Storico Romano will bring history to life through dramatic reenactments of battles, rituals, ceremonies, and even gladiatorial combat. From April 18 to 21, the group will animate the Circus Maximus and the main streets of Rome with historical reenactments and educational activities.

The programme includes the Gladiator Tournament, reenactments of rituals, battles, and scenes from everyday life in ancient Rome, educational activities for the general public, interactive camps open to visitors, conferences and talks with experts, as well as gladiatorial games tournaments involving schools from as many as 16 countries. The highlight will be the historical parade on April 19, when more than 2,000 reenactors in period costume will march through the streets of the city, offering Romans and visitors an immersive journey into the history of ancient Rome.

The programme also includes the Harpastum event, an international match taking place on Saturday, April 18 at 5 pm at Stadio Nando Martellini – Terme di Caracalla, where international teams will compete in a reenactment of ancient Roman football. A brand-new feature of this edition, and a first in the event’s history, will be a women’s Harpastum match.

For more information on the Natale di Roma head over to natalidiroma.it or check out their Facebook page.

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The programme of celebrations

The 2779th Birthday of Rome is celebrated with a free programme spread across the historic centre, civic museums, and several neighbourhoods of the city. The heart of the celebrations is April 21, with concerts by the military bands in a number of central squares from 5.30 pm, including Piazza del Campidoglio, Trinità dei Monti, Piazza San Silvestro, Piazza Pia, Piazza di Pietra, Piazza di San Lorenzo in Lucina, and Piazza di Sant’Ignazio.

Also on April 21, in Piazza del Campidoglio, Palazzo Senatorio will exceptionally open its doors for free visits to the Aula Giulio Cesare, available in four afternoon time slots upon reservation.

The programme also includes guided tours and themed itineraries: on April 19 at the Museo di Casal de’ Pazzi with the presentation of a comic book on the area’s prehistoric past; on April 21, a street art itinerary in Quadraro, as well as visits to the Mercati di Traiano, Museo Pietro Canonica, Museo Barracco, Galleria d’Arte Moderna, and Museo di Roma in Trastevere; and finally, on April 22, a visit to Palazzo Braschi dedicated to everyday life in Rome between the 17th and 19th centuries.

Download the full programme

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Free Civic Museums

On the occasion of the city’s birthday, the Musei in Comune of Rome Capital will be open during their regular hours, and it will be possible to visit the museum collections and current exhibitions free of charge, with a few exceptions.

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Light, Sound, and History Converge to Reawaken Rome’s Ancient Past

The gallery lights dim. The soft hum of projectors fills the vaulted ceiling. Suddenly, beams of color sweep across ancient marble, bringing the bas-reliefs to life as the lights flicker and glow. For a brief moment, time seems suspended, modern Rome falls silent, and its ancient past, now brought to life for the modern age. 

Experiencing Ancient Rome in meticulous detail is now possible. Beginning 27 March, the Ara Pacis Museum on the Lungotevere offers visitors the chance to see the city’s monuments as the Romans once did, radiant, vibrant, and alive with history.

L’Ara Si Rivela (The Ara Reveals Itself) is a multimedia project designed to bring the ancient world to life. Using cutting-edge projectors, dynamic lighting, and immersive soundscapes, the initiative transports visitors into the heart of one of Rome’s most celebrated monuments: the Ara Pacis.

INSPIRATION
Things to do and see in Rome

Commissioned in 9 BC to celebrate the Pax Romana, it was intended to honour Augustus for his successes in conquering the North and his military stabilisation efforts. As Christianity became Rome’s focus, the monument’s significance faded, and its magnificence would soon be swallowed by the Earth’s soil. For centuries, she lay forgotten, until her rediscovery in the Renaissance offered an opportunity to reconnect with the artistry and grandeur of ancient Rome. 

The multimedia narrative is rich with sweeping 4K laser projectors that illuminate the Pacis’ four facades, reviving the glory of Pax Romana. The western front tells of Romulus and Remus and of Aeneas’s sacrifice. The side processions depict high priests and imperial family members in bas-relief, while the eastern facade is debated to be either a showcase of Mother Earth (Tellus) or of Venus and the goddess Roma. 

Since the monument’s original colors remain a mystery, historians have used laboratory analysis and collaborative research to hypothesize how it once appeared. Their findings inspired the projection series—designed to emulate the Ara Pacis’s original polychromy and reveal details lost to time.

Visitors follow designated paths, guided to each facade. Audio guides narrate the Ara Pacis’s story — its rise, fall, and renewal — through the voices of collectors, restorers, and archaeologists. As soft music swells and projections ripple across the marble, the altar’s history unfolds in light and shadow. Many pause in awe, immersed in a spectacle where history becomes tangible — revealing details hidden for centuries.

Mayor of Rome, Roberto Gualtieri, notes that the “project enhances the city’s cultural heritage and strengthens the role of civic museums as places capable of bringing history closer to an ever-growing audience.”

L’Ara Si Rivela welcomes ticketed visitors every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 8 to 11 pm, with times changing in the summer months. Tours, which are guided, can accompany 25 guests and will last a duration of 45 minutes.

This immersive experience invites guests to rediscover the Ara Pacis’s original beauty through modern technology, where splendor and innovation meet beneath the Roman sky. 

Tickets can be pre-purchased online at www.arapacis.it or, if available, on-site at Tourist Infopoints, at all civic museum ticket offices, and at the bookshops/ticket offices of the Mausoleum of Augustus, Clivus Acilio, and Casina Vignola Boccapaduli.

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A new spin-off edition featuring open studios, a citywide exhibition format, and performances in one of Rome’s most creative districts.

After the success of the last edition in the Historic Center, Romadiffusa is back with a new spin-off edition and heads to San Lorenzo, one of the Roman neighborhoods with the highest concentration of creative spaces. On March 21–22, 2026, for an entire weekend the district will turn into a roaming cultural festival of open studios, pop-up exhibitions, performances, workshops, tours, and meetups with artists, curators, and gallerists, bringing contemporary art into everyday and unexpected places.

At the core of the program is a network of over 50 artists’ studios, artist-run spaces, and galleries, with special openings and dedicated events. Fondazione Pastificio Cerere will host a weekend centered on its current exhibitions, with guided visits, activities for children, and performative moments. Neighborhood galleries will welcome the public with meetups and evening openings, from MATÈRIA to Monitor, Monti8, and Gilda Lavia, while experimental spaces like ORO Project and LEMBI expand the route with installation-based research and new crossovers.

Among the most interesting highlights, Numero Cromatico will open its studios with a special activation featuring lecture performances and a participatory project linked to the festival’s official merch. Contemporary art will step outside its usual venues and weave into the neighborhood’s fabric: works by artists such as Paolo W. Tamburella, Quayola, and Pietro Ruffo will appear in some of San Lorenzo’s iconic everyday spots, while a dispersed exhibition curated by Gianni Politi will bring emerging artists’ works into workshops, bars, bookshops, and historic local addresses.

Visitors can also join guided tours to rediscover San Lorenzo, from street art to contemporary architecture, alongside a program dedicated to independent publishing, photography, and artisan practices, with workshops and special openings. The edition is supported by Soho House Rome, and the full program will be announced in the coming weeks and published on romadiffusa.com.

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From Saturnalia to Rome’s Carnevale Today

Carnival is celebrated all around the world, but like “all roads,” it likely has roots in Rome. Now a Roman Catholic celebration, Carnival takes place in the days before Lent, the 40-day period in which Catholics abstain from a chosen vice (the word Carnevale comes from carnovale, which means “removal of meat”). However, Carnival probably started as the pagan Saturnalia festival of ancient Rome.

Origins of Roman Carnival

Saturnalia suspended work and business, temporarily “freed” slaves, and eased moral restrictions. Saturn was the Roman god of agriculture, and the festivities honoring him involved decorative masks, rituals and drunken parties.

The festival was adopted in the age of Catholicism with a few adaptations. As early as 1143 AD, the Pope held ceremonies in today’s Testaccio neighborhood of Rome. This included jousting, duels, and hunting. However, it wasn’t until Pope Paul II came to power and relocated his residence to Piazza Venezia that Carnevale truly took off. The Carnival festivities moved there with him, making Via Lata (now Via del Corso) a natural setting for the most anticipated events of the Carnival: the Inaugural Parade and the Race of the Barbary Horses.

Via del Corso: track of the Berber horse race

Via del Corso was the central racetrack of Carnival. The races started in Piazza del Popolo and stretched down Via del Corso, ending at Piazza Venezia. There were races for children, elderly people, donkeys and buffaloes. One pope, Alexander VI Borgia, even introduced a race of prostitutes in 1501. Of all the competitions, the Barbary horses created the most chaos. La Corsa dei Berberi, “The race of the Berbers,” focused on a specific breed, known as the Berber horse, or Barb horse, which was bred prolifically in ancient Rome for its strength, stamina and speed. Those qualities made the animals the ideal chariot horses for competitors in Circus Maximus. Their reputation carried on into the Roman Catholic Carnival.

Noble families contributed male Berber horses to participate in the race and braided colorful ribbons into their manes. Spectators gathered at Piazza del Popolo to watch the preparation of the horses and make wagers. Uninhibited by riders, the horses galloped about a mile, finishing in Piazza Venezia, where the owners of the winning horse were presented with a decorative saddle.

Modern celebrations of Carnival across Italy

The equine race was abolished in 1874 by King Vittorio Emanuele II after a lethal accident, and since then, Rome’s Carnival festivities have gone mostly dormant. The spirit of the carnival, however, has survived through special celebrations such as those organised by cultural associations like “Il Carnevale Romano Storico”. This association operates in the fields of cultural promotion and strives to preserve the tradition of the Roman Carnival.

The last celebration of Carnival organised by “Il Carnevale Romano Storico” was held before the pandemic, but the celebrations organized in the past have included theater performances, historical re-enactments, the famous equestrian parade, fireworks, street art performances, concerts, and masquerade balls.

The modern carnival has even included the famous Candles Feast or “Festa dei moccoletti”, a group game which used to conclude the Roman Catholic Carnival. The feast took place at sunset on the evening of Mardì Gras. Participants wore decorative masks and carried a lit candle or a lantern, trying to maintain their flame while simultaneously attempting to extinguish other participant’s lanterns. If your flame went out, you were forced to take off your mask.

Some Carnival celebrations have revived in the rest of Italy too. Since its reinstatement in 1979, Venice’s Carnival has brought revellers to canals for parades in which colorful floats dance on water and acrobats twirl and balance on tightropes. Decorative masks and costumes shroud the city in mystery. The regions of Piedmont and Sicily are also known for their celebrations, which include similar events involving shiny masks, and elaborate costumes.

Carnival 2026 in Rome

Today in Rome, you might see some costumed and masked characters around Piazza Navona and Via del Corso, but the holiday is mostly celebrated by children in school. Shrove Tuesday, or Martedì Grasso, falls on February 17 this year, so look out for Carnival festivities leading up to that date. Try popular Carnival foods like castagnole, the famous sugar-coated fried dough balls, or snack on frappe, which are crunchy strips of fried dough dusted with powdered sugar.

• Il Carnevale dei Burattini (puppet show) | 7–15 Feb 2026
  At Teatro San Carlino in Villa Borghese, this is one of the most reliable family picks: a Carnival-themed puppet show paired with a festive atmosphere designed for kids (with specific weekend showtimes and special matinées).
• Tiber Carnival (Carnevale Tiberino) | Sat 14 Feb 2026, from 10:00
  A playful, sport-meets-Carnival event along the river, starting at Scalo de Pinedo (Flaminio area). Expect masks, activities on the river (including canoes and similar gear), plus a costumed walk along the banks that heads toward Castel Sant’Angelo.
• Carnevale for kids at Casina di Raffaello | Tue 17 Feb 2026, from 10:00
  Casina di Raffaello (Villa Borghese) hosts a Carnival day for kids on Tuesday, February 17, 10:00 am–7:00 pm, with creative workshops and story readings to spark imagination and transform into funny animals and fantastic creatures. Price: €8 per child, per workshop.
• Carnival Skate at the Pincio (in costume) | Sun 15 Feb 2026, 14:00
  The Pattinatori del Pincio invite everyone to roll in costume. Meeting point is 14:00 at Ponte del Pincio (Piazzale dei Martiri). Families usually keep to Villa Borghese paths, while more confident skaters head farther out into the city for a noisy, confetti-filled ride.
• Marconi Carnival Parade (Sfilata di Carnevale a Marconi) | Sun 15 Feb 2026, from 14:30
  A classic neighbourhood parade with a very local feel: meet at 14:30 at the Parrocchia Santi Aquila e Priscilla (Via Blaserna), depart at 14:45, and follow the route through the Marconi area toward Parco Tevere Marconi, with music, masks and plenty of colour.
• La Tarantella del Carnevale | Sun 15 Feb 2026, 18:00
  A big folk-energy celebration at Auditorium Parco della Musica Ennio Morricone: traditional masks, dancers and live music culminating in the main concert at 18:00 in Sala Sinopoli. Many editions also include a pre-show masked parade in the outdoor spaces.
• Carnevale A Mare | Fiumicino, Sun 8 Feb and Sun 15 Feb 2026
  For an easy day trip: on 8 Feb, the programme includes a market (morning through late afternoon) and street entertainment. On 15 Feb, the big highlight is the grand parade along the waterfront area (Via Torre Clementina zone), with groups in costume and floats.

If you’re ready to have a good time, many clubs in Rome throw carnival parties and themed events. Don’t forget, you might need to wear a mask!

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Step into 2026 with flair by attending a cultural event at one of the city’s museums, libraries, cinemas, music halls, and more.

The central theme of ROMA CAPODARTE 2026 will be the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the Italian Constituent Assembly (1946–2026). Taking place on January 1, the initiative will once again enliven Rome with a city-wide cultural marathon featuring over 100 events, almost all free of charge, across every neighbourhood.

This fifth edition aims to honour the journey toward freedom that emerged from the resistance against Nazi-Fascism and laid the foundations for our democracy. To underline the value of this legacy, 10,000 copies of the Italian Constitution will be distributed free of charge throughout the day during events held across all 15 of the city’s districts (Municipi).

On January 1, the city hosts 100+ events across squares, museums, theatres and venues in every neighbourhood, with three main stages lighting up different areas of Rome.

• Piazza Navona kicks off at 3:30pm with a comedy line-up (Beatrice Rigillo, Emanuela Cappello, Raffaello Corti “Faccestamagia”, and poet-performer Lorenzo Maragoni), then from 6–10pm becomes a tango ballroom for the New Year Milonga with tango icons Daiana Guspero and Miguel Ángel Zotto, followed by DJ Lavinia Livi.
• Outside the centre, Rampa Prenestina (Municipio V) hosts a live concert-show from 6pm with Andrea Rivera, Margherita Vicario, Villa Ada Posse, StabLinda, and Baro (with vocalist Lyst), plus six art installations.
• At Acilia Station (Municipio X), from 6pm there’s a K-POP show with dance and meet & greet, followed by hip hop/breakdance crews; from 8pm a rap-focused stage features Piotta, Nesli, Beba, and Jelecrois.

Live Music & Performances

On January 1, live events take over squares, museums and theatres across the city. In Via Margutta (3–6pm), an open-air concert alternates music with readings from the Italian Constitution. At the Capitoline Museums (6:30pm), actors Massimo Wertmüller and Anna Ferruzzo present a staged reading from Homer’s Iliad with live music, turning epic into a contemporary reflection on peace and the Constitution’s rejection of war.

At Auditorium Parco della Musica Ennio Morricone (3–8pm), Il Primo Ballo is a city-wide dance “invasion” featuring tango, swing, balfolk, urban dance and standard ballroom across indoor and outdoor spaces, plus a workshop-performance on manipulative rhetoric (Come parla il perfetto dittatore, 5pm). Elsewhere, concerts and shows continue in multiple districts—from swing with Constitution-themed readings (Piazza Balsamo Crivelli) to community performances (Piazza Roberto Malatesta), a Constitution-focused show with the inclusive Blind Inclusive Orchestra (Teatro Tor Bella Monaca), and an intergenerational programme of music, theatre, readings and comedy at Pinispettinati (Municipio VII). The day also includes a theatre piece on Artemisia Gentileschi (Ex Fabbrica Campari) and a musical marathon at Ponte Milvio featuring readings on freedom of expression, art and culture.

Talks, Readings & Cultural Itineraries

At Palazzo Esposizioni (6pm), a reading-performance tells the story of Adele Bei, one of the “mothers” of the Constituent Assembly. In Piazza Cina (3:30–6pm), Constitution readings are paired with a talk by social educator Azzykky. Teatro del Lido (6pm) hosts Madri Costituenti, a reading and discussion inspired by Piero Calamandrei’s 1955 speech and the stories of the women of the Constituent Assembly.

In Largo Alessandrina Ravizza (3:30–7pm), artists and residents co-create three murals, each dedicated to a constitutional value, accompanied by live readings. Four themed cultural itineraries explore symbolic places in Rome linked to specific constitutional articles (including routes in Villa Borghese, Porta Maggiore, and San Lorenzo), plus visits to the Bunker at Villa Torlonia (3pm and 4pm).

Cinema & Screenings

In Trastevere, Spazio S.c.e.n.a. presents a New Year film programme with a tribute to Gian Maria Volontè (Il terrorista, 4pm) followed by Paola Cortellesi’s C’è ancora domani (6pm). At Casa del Cinema (Villa Borghese), two Vittorio De Sica classics screen: Sciuscià (11am) and Ladri di biciclette (8pm), alongside the documentary Figlio di Giano (5pm). Nuovo Cinema Aquila hosts an event focused on Article 1 (“Italy is a democratic Republic founded on work”), with discussion and selected documentary excerpts, plus a screening touching on globalisation.

Activities for Children & Families

At La Pelanda (Mattatoio) from 3pm to 7pm, La Repubblica del gioco offers cooperative games, collective building activities, circus practices and performances inspired by constitutional principles such as community, participation and freedom. Palazzo Esposizioni hosts a kids’ art workshop (Dritti ai Diritti, 4:30–6pm) focused on imagining new rights and creating posters. In Municipio V, Teatro Biblioteca Quarticciolo runs a creative writing lab (4pm) linked to Article 21 (freedom of expression).

Several public libraries also join with themed readings and displays tied to key constitutional articles (work, peace, freedom of thought, culture/environment, equality).

Theatre, Music, Cinema & Encounters

The day opens with the traditional concert by Rome’s Local Police Band in Piazza di Spagna (12pm). The Teatro dell’Opera di Roma proposes La prima Opera buona dell’anno (from 3:45pm), with music, talks and guests, plus a photo exhibition in the foyer. Palazzo Esposizioni hosts a special literature–cinema–memory route that ends with a film screening, while Casa del Jazz features a live concert (6pm).

Across the city, additional concerts and events take place in museums and cultural venues, Ara Pacis, Capitoline Museums, Palazzo Braschi, Centrale Montemartini and Villa Torlonia, alongside talks, DJ sets, electronic music takeovers, theatre performances and monologues.

Exhibitions, Guided Visits & Cultural Routes

Many civic museums and the temporary exhibitions they host are free to visit throughout the day, along with major venues such as Palazzo Esposizioni, the Mattatoio and MACRO. A few flagship exhibitions are available with reduced admission, and some experiences require advance online booking (including Circo Maximo Experience, Villa Torlonia’s Bunker visits and Planetarium shows).

Several archaeological areas are also open, while curator-led visits and guided tours by the Sovrintendenza Capitolina offer deeper insights into exhibitions and collections, including special walkthroughs at the Capitoline Museums, Ara Pacis, GAM and Palazzo Braschi.

All information is available at www.culture.roma.it/romacapodarte, 060608 (daily from 9am to 7pm) or on social profiles #romacapodarte2026

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ROMA CAPODARTE: ROME NEW YEAR DAY 2026

1 January 2025

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Robert Wilson’s immersive tribute to Michelangelo’s Pietà Rondanini and Arvo Pärt

MAXXI is presenting Mother, Robert Wilson’s final artistic project, an experience that sits somewhere between visual installation, performance, and concert. This is not a conventional exhibition: it’s built to be lived in real time, inviting visitors to slow down, sit in silence, and let light and sound do the storytelling.

At its core is Michelangelo’s unfinished Pietà Rondanini, shown here through the historic Gariboldi plaster cast, framed by Wilson’s signature language of darkness, precision lighting, and measured transitions. The soundtrack is Arvo Pärt’s Stabat Mater, whose sacred minimalism deepens the emotional atmosphere and turns the encounter into something almost meditative.

Staged in Gallery 5, the installation transforms the space by fully darkening it and abstractly reconstructing the “Spanish Hospital” room at Milan’s Castello Sforzesco (where the work was originally conceived). After the main light-and-music sequence, the lighting shifts, allowing time to look at the sculpture more directly; visitors can also view Wilson’s original drawings connected to the project’s development.

The event runs from 12 December 2025 to 18 January 2026, with timed entry slots between 11:30am and 5:30pm (limited capacity). Tickets cost €5; if you’d like to include museum admission, a combined ticket is available for €17.

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