Planning Events to Rome

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05/01/2010 - 12.57
Ferragosto (Feast of the Assumption) - When: 15 Aug Those who haven't scarpered to the coast for the whole of August take a long weekend for the Feast of the Assumption, and most of the city closes down.

05/01/2010 - 13.17
Cineporto - Where: Parco della Farnesina, Suburbs: north When: July & Aug Tel & website: 06 3600 5556/www.cineporto.com One of the most successful and popular summer film festivals is in the park by the Stadio Olimpico. There are two separate screens, each of them showing two dubbed films a night, often recent releases. Live concerts of mainly Italian bands are presented between shows on many nights.

05/01/2010 - 13.15
Stagione Estiva del Teatro dell'Opera - Where: Terme di Caracalla When: July-Aug Tel & website: 06 4816 0255/www.operaroma.it The spectacular venue for the Opera di Roma's summer season is a breathtaking archaeological site. Set designers usually exploit the unique backdrop of majestic Roman ruins with few props and dramatic lighting. Back-row seats are very far away from the stage – so don't forget binoculars.

05/01/2010 - 13.14
AltaRomAltaModa - Where: venues vary When: 5 days late Jan; 5 days mid July Tel & website: information 06 678 1313/www.altaroma.it Though often in the shade of glitzier, trendier Milan, Rome's fashion community is treated twice a year to a sneak preview of the coming season's collections by Roman designers, and an appearance by a handful of international talent.

05/01/2010 - 13.12
Invito alla Danza - Where: Villa Pamphili When: mid July Tel & website: 06 5831 0086, 06 3973 8323/www.invitoalladanza.it This annual dance fest is held in the beautiful gardens of the Villa Pamphili. The programme, with both classical and modern offerings, presents a performance every evening for about two weeks, and often includes international companies and stars.

05/01/2010 - 13.11
New Operafestival di Roma - Where: Piazza San Clemente 1, Celio When: mid July-mid Aug Tel & website: 347 852 4241/www.newoperafestivaldiroma.com This festival offers talented young musicians and singers from Italy and the US the chance to perform in the courtyard of the basilica of San Clemente. There's always at least one fully fledged opera, plus chamber music and a series of recitals.

05/01/2010 - 13.08
Festa de Noantri - Where: Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere/piazza Mastai When: mid-end July Though few traces of Trastevere's working-class roots remain today, the area's residents celebrate its humble origins with gusto during the Festa de' Noantri. Festivities kick off with a procession held in honour of the Madonna del Carmine, to whom the whole shebang is theoretically dedicated. Two weeks of arts events and street performances follow, and fireworks round off the closing night.

05/01/2010 - 13.07
Mille e Una Nota - Where: Santa Maria della Pace, Arco della Pace 5, Pantheon & Navona When: Aug. Box office 1hr before concerts Tel: 06 780 7695 This charming little chamber music festival has been going for over ten years in the magnificent cloister of Santa Maria della Pace.

05/01/2010 - 13.06
Festa delle Catene - Where: San Pietro in Vincoli When: 1 Aug The chains that allegedly bound St Peter in prison in Jerusalem, and those with which he was shackled in Rome, are displayed in a special mass at the church of San Pietro in Vincoli.

05/01/2010 - 13.03
Festa della Madonna della Neve - Where: Santa Maria Maggiore When: 5 Aug August 5 352 saw an unseasonal snowfall on the Esquiline Hill, an event which is still remembered at the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. The day is marked with a special mass, culminating in a blizzard of rose petals which flutter down from the roof on to the congregation.

05/01/2010 - 13.20
Santi Pietro e Paolo - Where: San Paolo fuori le Mura When: 29 June The two founders of Catholicism are also the twin patron saints of Rome, and each is honoured in his own basilica. At St Peter's a solemn mass is the highlight; celebrations at San Paolo fuori le Mura are focused outside the church, with an all-night street fair on via Ostiense.

05/01/2010 - 12.58
RomaEuropa Festival - Where: various locations When: Sept-Nov Tel & website: 06 422 961/www.romaeuropa.net Rome's cutting-edge performing arts festival offers music, dance and theatre, with an eclectic mix of international acts and emerging young talent. Buy tickets at the venues themselves or by phone or online (www.helloticket.it); book well in advance for big-name acts.

05/01/2010 - 13.21
Festa di San Giovanni - Where: Piazza di San Giovanni in Laterano When: 23 June In the San Giovanni district, locals observe this saint's day by guzzling lumache in umido (stewed snails) and porchetta (roast suckling pig). The main religious highlight is a candlelit procession, usually led by the pope, to San Giovanni in Laterano.

05/01/2010 - 12.54
Buenos Aires Tango - Where: Auditorium-Parco della Musica When: mid-Sept Tel & website: 06 8024 1281/www.auditorium.com A world-class tango festival, Buenos Aires Tango, features fantastic tango dancers and performances as well as open classes and a milonga.

05/01/2010 - 12.53
Enzimi - Where: various venues When: generally 2wks mid-Sept Website: www.enzimi.com This free music, theatre and arts festival – a showcase for the best up-and-coming artists – is council-funded and aimed at thirtysomethings and younger. Held in an array of unlikely locations, it hosts cutting-edge local bands and some international stars, skilfully mixing mainstream acts with offbeat sounds – the perfect opportunity to see what's new in the city's artistic circles.

05/01/2010 - 12.52
Cinema – Festa Internazionale di Roma - Where: various venues When: Oct Website: www.romacinemafest.org Started in 2006, Rome finally got itself a film festival to match its iconic cinematic status, giving the city's once glorious film industy a much-needed shot in the arm. Organisational hitches should be ironed out as the festival gains in maturity. Linked to another feisty newcomer – New York's Tribeca Film Festival – this event has both arthouse kudos and the money to attract the stars and the big players.

05/01/2010 - 12.50
Immacolata Concezione - Where: Piazza di Spagna When: 8 Dec The statue of the Madonna in piazza di Spagna is the focus of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. With the pope looking on, the fire brigade runs a ladder up Mary's column and a lucky fireman gets to place a wreath over her outstretched arm. At the base of the column locals deposit elaborate floral tributes.

05/01/2010 - 12.49
Carnevale - When: wk before Ash Wednesday (Feb/early Mar) In the Middle Ages this riotous last fling before the rigours of Lent was celebrated with wild abandon on Monte Testaccio. Renaissance popes, anxious to keep an eye on their debauched subjects, brought the ceremony to via del Corso. Nowadays young Roman tykes dressed up in their finery are paraded about by their proud parents.

05/01/2010 - 12.48
Festa di Sant'Antonio Abate - Where: Sant'Eusebio, piazza Vittorio Emanuele II 12A When: 17 Jan In a rare example of Italian devotion to animal welfare, Romans commemorate the protector of animals, Sant'Antonio Abate, in the church of Sant'Eusebio on 17 January; those keen to ensure their pets get a place in heaven bring them along to have them blessed.

05/01/2010 - 12.46
Natale & Santo Stefano (Christmas & Boxing Day) - When: 25, 26 Dec Tickets for the papal midnight mass at St Peter's can be obtained from the Prefettura; put your request in months ahead. Cribs can be found in most churches, but the most impressive are halfway up the Spanish Steps and in piazza San Pietro. The Roman Christmas Day is a gluttonous affair: locals feast upon fritti (calorific fried offerings), followed by panettone (currant sponge) and torrone (slabs of nutty chocolate or nougat). The pope says a special mass and gives his 'Urbi et orbis' blessing in St Peter's.

05/01/2010 - 12.43
Epifania – La Befana (Epiphany) - Where: Piazza Navona When: 6 Jan From mid December up to 6 January, piazza Navona hosts a Christmas fair, with market stalls peddling sweets and cheap tat. The fair is dedicated to La Befana – the old witch. As the pagan legend goes, on the day of Epiphany this 'Mother Christmas' brought presents to good children only; naughty ones found their shoes filled with coal. The climax of the fair comes late on 5 January, when La Befana herself touches down in the piazza.

05/01/2010 - 12.40
San Silvestro & Capodanno (New Year's Eve & New Year's Day) - When: 31 Dec, 1 Jan Hordes of Romans flock to piazza del Popolo to see in the new year with a free concert and fireworks display; check the city council website (www.comune.roma.it) for a full list of events. Some people add to the fun with home-grown pyrotechnics and flying spumante corks, turning the centro storico into something resembling a war zone. Beware: some older residents still honour the tradition of chucking unwanted consumer durables off their balconies.

05/01/2010 - 12.59
Notte di San Lorenzo - Where: San Lorenzo in Panisperna, via Panisperna 90 When: 10 Aug Tel: 06 483 667 On the night of 10 August, Roman eyes turn towards the heavens, hoping to catch a glimpse of one of the night's shooting stars. Some explain the phenomenon as the fall-out of a meteor entering orbit, while the more poetic attribute the falling stars to the tears shed by St Lawrence, martyred in Rome on this day in 258.

05/01/2010 - 13.37
Campionato Internazionale di Tennis (Italian Open) - Where: Foro Italico, viale dei Gladiatori 31 When: 2wks early May Tel & website: 06 3283 7240/www.internazionalibnlditalia.it Every May, Rome hosts the Italian Open tennis tournament, one of the most important European clay-court challenges outside the Grand Slam, and a warm-up event for the French Open.

05/01/2010 - 13.50
Palazzo Massimo alle Colonne - Where: Palazzo Massimo alle Colonne When: 16 Mar (8am-1pm) San Filippo Neri performed one of his most celebrated miracles in the palazzo of the noble Massimo family. Called to administer the last rites to young Paolo Massimo, the saint found the boy already dead; undaunted, he revived Paolo, chatted for a while, then – when the boy was ready to meet his maker – commended him to God. On the anniversary, after a private mass, a procession of family, servants and altar boys escorts the presiding cardinal or archbishop to a private room for a slap-up buffet. Turn up around 11.30am to witness the spectacle in all its Felliniesque glory.

05/01/2010 - 13.49
Festa di San Giuseppe - Where: around via Trionfale When: 19 Mar Though no longer an official public holiday, the feast of St Joseph remains popular, especially in the Trionfale district of northern Rome. In the run-up to the feast, the city's pasticcerie are piled high with deep-fried batter-balls called bignè di San Giuseppe.

05/01/2010 - 13.47
Settimana della Cultura - Where: various venues When: one week in Spring Tel & website: 800 991 199/www.beniculturali.it During Cultural Heritage Week, the state-owned museums and monuments throw their doors open to the public without charge.

05/01/2010 - 13.46
Maratona della Città di Roma - Where: starts via dei Fori Imperiali When: 3rd or 4th Sun in Mar Tel & website: 06 406 5064/www.maratonadiroma.it Rome's annual marathon now attracts big-name runners. The serious race begins and ends in via dei Fori Imperiali; sign up online (the sooner you register, the lower the fee). The Stracittadina fun-run is a 5km (3-mile) jog through the centro storico for those not up to the 42km (26-mile) slog over cobblestones; sign up at the Marathon Village (usually in the Palazzo dei Congressi in EUR, but check online) up to a day before the event.

05/01/2010 - 13.45
Festa di Primavera – Mostra delle Azalee - Where: Piazza di Spagna When: end Mar, early Apr Spring arrives early in Rome, bringing masses of blooms. When the azaleas come out, some 3,000 vases of them are arranged on the Spanish Steps.

05/01/2010 - 13.44
Settimana Santa & Pasqua (Holy Week & Easter) - Where: Vatican; Colosseum When: Mar/Apr Tourists and pilgrims flood into the city on the Saturday before Palm Sunday, cramming inside St Peter's square for the open-air mass. The non-stop services of Holy Week peak in the pope's Stations of the Cross (Via Crucis) and mass at the Colosseum late on the evening of Good Friday. On Pasquetta (Easter Monday), tradition coaxes Romans fuori porta (outside the city gates) to feast upon lavish picnics of such specialities as torta pasqualina (cheesy bread, with salami and hard-boiled eggs) and fave e pecorino (broad beans and cheese).

05/01/2010 - 13.43
Natale di Roma - Where: Campidoglio When: 21 Apr Not all cities celebrate their birthday... but Rome, 'born' in 753 BC, is no ordinary city. The bulk of the festivities take place at the Campidoglio. The city hall and the other palazzi on the hill are illuminated, and enormous quantities of fireworks are set off.

05/01/2010 - 13.41
Festa della Liberazione - Where: various locations When: 25 Apr This public holiday commemorates the liberation of Italy by Allied forces at the end of World War II.

05/01/2010 - 13.40
Giornate FAI - Where: various locations When: date varies (see website) Tel & website: information 06 689 6752/www.fondoambiente.it For one weekend each spring, the Fondo per l'Ambiente Italiano (FAI) persuades institutional and private owners of historic properties to reveal their spectacular interiors, usually off-limits to the public.

05/01/2010 - 13.19
Concerti all'Orto Botanico - Where: Largo Cristina di Svezia 24, Trastevere When: July Tel & website: 06 686 8441/06 3936 6322/fax 06 3936 6229/www.assmusrom.it Organised by the Associazione Musicale Romana, these concerts – which include Gershwin and Piazzola as well as mainstream chamber music – take place in the botanical gardens, where a natural amphitheatre makes for a lovely venue for a limited number of spectators. Booking essential.

05/01/2010 - 13.38
Primo Maggio - Where: Piazza San Giovanni When: 1 May On May Day, trade unions organise a huge, free rock concert, which is traditionally held in front of the basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano. Performers – mainly Italian, with a smattering of international has-beens – belt out crowd-pleasers from mid afternoon into the small hours.

05/01/2010 - 13.51
Festa di Santa Francesca Romana - Where: Monastero Oblate di Santa Francesca Romana, via Teatro di Marcello 32 & 40 When: 9 Mar Tel: 06 679 3565 In 1433 Santa Francesca Romana founded the Oblate di Maria, an order of nuns who never took final vows. She was believed to possess the gift of dislocation – being in several different places at once – a quality that so endeared her to Italy's pioneer motorists that they made her their patron saint. Devout Roman drivers get their motors blessed at her church in the Foro Romano on 9 March.

05/01/2010 - 13.35
Jazz & Image Festival - Where: Villa Celimontana When: early June-Aug Tel & website: 06 5833 57817/www.villacelimontanajazz.com This festival takes place in the leafy Villa Celimontana park and features acclaimed artists (from Incognito to Italian jazz star Stefano Bollani) in an astonishingly beautiful setting. Lots of candles and torches give the place a magical aura. Wine and food stands complete the idyll.

05/01/2010 - 13.34
Concorso Ippico Internazionale di Piazza di Siena - Where: Piazza di Siena, Villa Borghese When: 2nd half of May Tel & website: 06 638 3818/www.piazzadisiena.com Rome's jet-set flock to this international show-jumping event in leafy Villa Borghese.

05/01/2010 - 13.32
Estate Romana (Roman Summer) - Where: various locations When: June-Sept Website: www.estateromana.it During the event-packed Estate Romana (Roman Summer) festival, piazze, palazzi, parks and courtyards come alive with music from local bands, films are shown on outdoor screens late into the night, and cultural events such as readings and gastronomic events take place in venues around town. Many events are free; check local press for details. The website may change its address; it can, however, be accessed through the town council website at www.comune.roma.it.

05/01/2010 - 13.31
Cosmophonies – Festival Internazionale di Ostia Antica - Where: Teatro Romano-Scavi Archeologici di Ostia Antica, viale dei Romagnoli 717 When: June-mid Sept Tel & website: 333 200 4329/www.cosmophonies.com Held in the breathtaking scenario of the ancient Roman theatre of Ostia Antica, Cosmophonies is an international festival of theatre, dance and music dishing out acts like Sonic Youth, Morrissey, Caetano Veloso and Jackson Browne. No matter what's happening on stage, these unique surroundings make for a memorable night.

05/01/2010 - 13.29
Festival delle Letterature - Where: Basilica of Maxentius, via dei Fori Imperiali When: June Tel & website: 06 3996 7850/www.festivaldelleletterature.it The floodlit basilica of Maxentius in the Roman Forum provides a theatrical backdrop to readings by some of the most important names in contemporary literature; past guests have included Paul Auster, Hanif Kureishi and Zadie Smith.

05/01/2010 - 13.27
Roma Incontra il Mondo - Where: Villa Ada, via di Ponte Salario, Suburbs: north When: mid June-early Aug Tel & website: 06 4173 4712/06 4173 4648/www.villaada.org Musicians from around the world play on a lakeside stage beneath the venerable trees of the Villa Ada park. Lights reflected in the water and cool breezes make this one of the most atmospheric and relaxing of the summer festivals. If the music palls there are bars and stalls purveying ethnic food, music and books.

05/01/2010 - 13.26
International Chamber Ensemble - Where: Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza, corso Rinascimento 40, Pantheon & Navona When: mid June-mid Aug Tel & website: 06 8680 0125/www.interensemble.org Chamber and symphonic music, as well as opera, takes place in a splendid example of Renaissance architecture: the courtyard of Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza, the hallowed 15th-century seat of Rome university.

05/01/2010 - 13.24
Fiesta - Where: via Appia Nuova 1245, Suburbs: east When: mid June-mid Aug Tel & website: 06 7129 9858/toll-free credit card bookings 199 109 910/www.fiesta.it This hectic Latin American-themed festival regularly attracts almost a million people over the summer months with performances by Latin American bands, plus appearances by some international rock, pop and hip hop stars. There are four dancefloors, scores of restaurants and stalls... and lots of salsa and merengue. Come early: transport and parking can be a nightmare.

05/01/2010 - 13.23
Gay Village - Where: venue changes from year to year When: late June-early Sept 7pm-3am daily Website: www.gayvillage.it A ten-week open-air bonanza that makes summer the pinkest season of the year: bars, restaurants, live acts, discos, cinema – a great place for boys and girls alike. Venue and contact details change from year to year, but the website reveals all as the date approaches.

05/01/2010 - 13.39
FotoGrafia - Where: various locations When: Apr-May Tel & website: information 06 7047 500/www.fotografiafestival.it Rome's annual photography festival puts on a wide range of exhibitions in venues across the city, from historic museums to avant-garde backstreet galleries.

28/01/2008 - 11.58
New Museum of the Imperial Fora - Mercati di Traiano - Museo dei Fori Imperiali, via IV Novembre, 94. Info 0682059127 Museo dei Fori Imperiali (Museum of the Imperial Fora) An absolutely new museum space and the result of a sophisticated restoration programme aimed at recovering the original aspect of the buildings and the expansion of external pathways. Some statistics for the museum: it is 2000sqm in size, contains 172 marble fragments and 15 models. Innovation and tradition come perfectly together in this venue, which increases the visitor’s appreciation of the role of colour in the ancient site, and looks at the relationship between architecture and sculpture. The museum is accessible to disabled people and equipped with ramps, chairlifts and lifts. Tue-sun h9-19. €6,50, reduced €4,50