Last verified: September 27, 2026. Between September 24 and 27 I read the organiser’s or the city’s own page for every announced date below, worked every fixed-rule date out against the 2027 calendar, and checked the new national holiday against the law that created it. I re-check the unconfirmed rows monthly.
Festivals in Italy don’t sit still, and most festival calendars online copy each other. The same Venice Carnevale has two start dates online, a week apart. The official programme says January 23, 2027. Half the pages I checked say January 30.
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That’s the problem with a festival calendar. Some dates are set by an organiser. Some fall out of Easter or a saint’s day. And some nobody has announced yet. Most lists print all three the same way.
So every date below carries a status and a source. You’ll get 30 events from October 2026 to September 2027, what it costs to watch each one, and my straight answer on whether it’s worth building a trip around. They sit alongside the other experiences worth planning an Italy trip around.
Key Takeaways
- Venice’s Carnevale runs January 23 to February 9, 2027, on the official programme, a week longer than many guides say.
- Siena’s Palio races on July 2 and August 16. Standing in the Campo is free, while balconies run €700 to €1,500 or more (La Nazione).
- Easter on March 28, 2027 sets Carnevale, Ivrea and Florence’s Scoppio del Carro.
Table of Contents
Festivals in Italy at a Glance: the 2026 to 2027 Calendar
Of the 30 festivals in Italy in this calendar, 10 have dates announced by their organisers, 18 follow a fixed date or Easter, and 2 are still unconfirmed. I checked each against its organiser or city between September 24 and 27, 2026. Only the unconfirmed rows need a second look before you book.
Here’s what the three labels mean. Announced means the organiser or the Comune has published the date. Fixed rule means the date follows a saint’s day, a set weekday, or Easter, so it’s as reliable as the calendar, though weather can still move an open-air race. Unconfirmed means I’ve given the likely window and nothing firmer.
| Festival | Town | 2026 to 2027 dates | Status | To watch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| White Truffle Fair | Alba | Oct 10 to Dec 6 (market Sat and Sun) | Announced | €6 |
| Lucca Comics & Games | Lucca | Oct 28 to Nov 1 | Announced | From €26.50 |
| Eurochocolate | Perugia | Nov 13 to 22 | Announced | Free to walk |
| Alpine Christmas markets | Trento, Merano, Bressanone, Bolzano | Open Nov 20 to 27; close Jan 6 | Announced | Free |
| San Gennaro | Naples | Dec 16; May 1; Sep 19 | Fixed rule | Free |
| Epiphany and the Befana | Rome, nationwide | Jan 6 | Fixed rule | Free |
| Carnevale di Venezia | Venice | Jan 23 to Feb 9 | Announced | Free in the streets |
| Carnevale di Viareggio | Viareggio | Parades Jan 30 to Feb 20 | Announced | From €15 |
| Sant’Agata | Catania | Feb 3 to 5 | Fixed rule | Free |
| Battle of the Oranges | Ivrea | Feb 7 to 9 | Fixed rule | €15 Sunday (2026) |
| Holy Week processions | Trapani, Taranto | Mar 25 to 27 | Fixed rule | Free |
| Scoppio del Carro | Florence | Mar 28 | Fixed rule | Free |
| Salone del Mobile | Milan | Apr 13 to 18 | Announced | Ticketed |
| Natale di Roma | Rome | Apr 21 | Fixed rule | Free |
| Biennale Architettura | Venice | May 8 to Nov 21 | Announced | Ticketed |
| Corsa dei Ceri | Gubbio | May 15 | Fixed rule | Free |
| Infiorata di Noto | Noto | Mid-May | Unconfirmed | €5 walkway (2026) |
| Infiorate di Spello | Spello | May 29 to 30 | Fixed rule | Free |
| Arena di Verona Opera Festival | Verona | Jun 11 to Sep 11 | Announced | From €22 |
| Luminara and Gioco del Ponte | Pisa | Jun 16; Jun 26 | Fixed rule | Free |
| Giostra del Saracino | Arezzo | Jun 19 | Fixed rule | Ticketed |
| Calcio Storico final | Florence | Jun 24 | Fixed rule | €29 to €150 (2026) |
| Palio di Siena | Siena | Jul 2; Aug 16 | Fixed rule | Free to stand |
| Umbria Jazz | Perugia | Jul 9 to 18 | Announced | Ticketed |
| Festino di Santa Rosalia | Palermo | Jul 14 to 15 | Fixed rule | Free |
| Festa del Redentore | Venice | Jul 17 to 18 | Fixed rule | Free, booked spots |
| Notte della Taranta | Melpignano | Late August | Unconfirmed | Free |
| Macchina di Santa Rosa | Viterbo | Sep 3 | Fixed rule | Free |
| Regata Storica | Venice | Sep 5 | Fixed rule | Free |
| Palio di Asti | Asti | Sep 5 | Fixed rule | €5 to €150 (2026) |
Dates run from October 2026 to September 2027. Prices marked 2026 are last year’s, and I’ll update each one when the organiser publishes 2027 tickets.
The chart shows the rhythm. May, June and July are the densest months, with four festivals each. December and August are the thinnest. August also brings Ferragosto, when Italy itself goes on holiday.
Which Festivals Are Worth Planning a Trip Around?
In 2027, three festivals change a whole city for their days. Venice’s Carnevale runs January 23 to February 9, per the official programme. Siena’s Palio races on July 2 and August 16. And for the right traveller, there’s Ivrea’s Battle of the Oranges, February 7 to 9. Each needs your room booked months out. Everything else, you can drop into.
How did I rank them? Four tests. Is it a spectacle you can’t see anywhere else? Can a visitor actually see it, not just be near it? Does it take over the town, or just one square? And what does it cost to watch? Most of the calendar passes one or two. Those three pass all four.
Carnevale turns Venice into a costume party for 18 days. The best of it is free: the masks in the squares, the water parade, the crowds on Shrove Tuesday. Build it into the rest of a two-night Venice plan and go midweek if you can.
The Palio is 90 seconds of bareback racing around the Campo, with a week of trial runs, dinners and processions around it. It’s the most intense thing on the Italian calendar. If you’re going, fit it into a Tuscany route that takes in Siena rather than a day trip, because the piazza fills hours early.
Ivrea is the odd one. It’s a pitched battle with oranges in a Piedmont town most visitors have never heard of. It’s messy and loud, and I’d only recommend it if you like the sound of that.
The honourable mentions each earn a detour if you’re already nearby: the Redentore fireworks in Venice, Santa Rosalia’s night procession in Palermo, and Florence’s Calcio Storico final. None of them needs a trip of its own.
When Is Venice Carnival in 2027?
Venice Carnival 2027 runs from Saturday January 23 to Shrove Tuesday, February 9, 2027, according to the official Carnevale di Venezia site, which I re-read on September 27. That’s 18 days. Many guides still give January 30, which is the traditional “last ten days” window, not this year’s programme.
Why the mismatch? Carnevale always ends on Martedì Grasso, the day before Ash Wednesday. It floats with Easter. The start date is the organiser’s choice, and for 2027 it chose January 23. If a site says January 30 and doesn’t link the organiser, it’s guessing.
What isn’t announced yet? The 2027 theme and the date of the Volo dell’Angelo, the flight from the Campanile that opens the festival in Piazza San Marco. Venice usually publishes both in November or December. The official dinner shows and masked balls are ticketed, and no 2027 prices were published on September 27. The streets, the squares and the water parade are free.
What about the access fee? In 2026 Venice charged day-trippers on 60 dates between April 3 and July 26, and none of them fell during Carnevale. The fee hasn’t applied since July 27, and any 2027 calendar needs new decisions from the city (Comune di Venezia, Contributo di accesso). If you’re sleeping in Venice, you pay Venice’s overnight tax instead, and you’re exempt from the access fee either way.
Weekends are when the crowds peak, and the last two Saturdays, January 30 and February 6, are the tightest. Book the room before the flight. On the water, the gondola tariff is set by city resolution and has no Carnevale supplement (Comune di Venezia, Servizio Gondola). I’ve priced out what the water costs during the festival weeks in full.
Want the floats rather than the masks? Viareggio, on the Tuscan coast, runs six parades of giant papier-mâché floats along the seafront. The dates are January 30 and February 4, 7, 9, 14 and 20, 2027, as the Fondazione Carnevale announced in August (LuccaInDiretta). Entry starts at €16.50, the Thursday parade is €15, a grandstand seat adds €25, and Gold tickets with a central seat start at €70 (Fondazione Carnevale di Viareggio, tickets). Children under 1.20 metres go free.
What Is the Battle of the Oranges, and Is It Safe?
The Battle of the Oranges is the heart of Ivrea’s historic carnival: teams on foot pelt horse-drawn carts with oranges for three afternoons. In 2027 it runs Sunday February 7 to Tuesday February 9, from about 2pm. That’s worked out from Shrove Tuesday, since the Storico Carnevale di Ivrea hasn’t posted its programme yet.
The rule that matters is the hat. From Giovedì Grasso, February 4, every visitor is expected to wear the red Phrygian cap, the berretto frigio. It marks you as a supporter of the revolt the battle re-enacts, and the throwers leave you alone. No cap, and you’re a fair target.
Is it safe? Safe enough if you stay behind the nets. Oranges thrown at full strength bruise, and eye injuries do happen in the open squares. Watch from the netted spectator areas, keep children out of the squares entirely, and wear clothes you’ll throw away. In 2026, entry cost €15 plus a booking fee for the Sunday, with some groups, residents among them, let in free. Check the organiser’s page for the 2027 rules.
Ivrea is under an hour from Turin by regional train. That makes Turin the better base, and it’s one of the 12 underrated Italian cities I’d send you to anyway. Carnival week is also the busiest week on Italy’s ski slopes, so if you’re pairing it with the mountains, my skiing in Italy guide has the weeks to avoid.
How Does Easter Move Italy’s Festival Dates?
In 2027, Easter falls on March 28, and that one date sets five months of Italian festivals. Carnevale ends 47 days earlier, on February 9. The Holy Week processions run March 25 to 27. Corpus Domini lands on May 30 as Italy observes it, which fixes Spello’s flower carpets. Learn the rule once and you can date any year yourself.
The chain works like this. Shrove Tuesday is Easter minus 47 days. Giovedì Grasso, the carnival Thursday, is five days before that. Corpus Domini is Easter plus 60 days, a Thursday, and Italy celebrates it on the following Sunday. So the calendar below isn’t a guess. It’s arithmetic.
Holy Week is at its most striking in the south. In Trapani, the Misteri procession carries 20 groups of wooden statues through the town for 24 hours. It leaves at 2pm on Good Friday, March 26, and returns about 2pm on Saturday (Processione dei Misteri di Trapani). In Taranto, hooded confraternities walk from Holy Thursday afternoon through the night (Settimana Santa Taranto). Trapani is the anchor of any western Sicily route.
The Scoppio del Carro is Florence’s Easter morning. A tall cart packed with fireworks is drawn to the Duomo, and at about 11am a dove-shaped rocket lights it from the altar (Comune di Firenze). Arrive by 9:30 for a view. It’s the loudest way to spend a Florence Easter.
In Rome, the Pope’s Easter Mass in St. Peter’s Square is free, but seats in the square need tickets from the Prefecture of the Papal Household. Easter week is also the hardest week to book the Vatican at Easter. Easter Monday, Pasquetta, is a national holiday and a picnic day, so book train seats out of the big cities ahead.
What Does It Cost to Watch Italy’s Festivals?
Most of Italy’s big festivals are free to stand in. The money goes on seats. They run from €5 to stand at the Palio di Asti, to €1,500 or more for a balcony over Siena’s Campo, as La Nazione reported in July 2025. The street is free. The view is what’s for sale.
I priced every festival whose organiser or local paper of record publishes seat prices. Siena has no central box office. Stand managers and flat owners sell the seats: about €300 to €600 in the numbered stands, and €700 to over €1,500 on private balconies (La Nazione, Palio prices). The Comune’s own seats, at €5 to €15, are for the trial races only.
Florence’s Calcio Storico final is the other tight ticket. In 2026 the stands cost €29 at the team ends, €55 on the sunny side and €150 on a new shaded tier. They sold only through TicketOne, four per buyer, from two days before (FirenzeToday). At Asti in 2026, standing room was €5 and the stands €30 to €150 (La Voce di Asti).
| Festival | Free option | Paid option | Where to book | Book this far ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palio di Siena | Centre of the Campo | Stands €300 to €600, balconies €700+ | Stand managers, hotels | 6 months or more |
| Carnevale di Venezia | Streets, squares, water parade | Dinner shows and balls | carnevale.venezia.it | Room: 4 to 6 months |
| Calcio Storico final | None | €29 to €150 (2026) | TicketOne, from 2 days before | On release day |
| Redentore | Waterfront, if booked | Boats | redentorevenezia.it | When booking opens |
| Arena di Verona | None | From €22 | arena.it | 1 to 3 months |
| Lucca Comics & Games | Town streets | €26.50 to €95 | Organiser (80,000 a day cap) | Weeks |
| Battle of the Oranges | None on Sunday | €15 (2026) | Storico Carnevale | Weeks |
The lead times are my planning advice, not published rules.
Is a festival week worth its premium? Here’s one number. In 2025, about one tourist in ten in Italy chose a destination mainly for an event. Those event-goers spent €107 a day on the ground, against €96 for the average tourist. That’s according to the Unioncamere and Isnart tourism observatory as reported by GuidaViaggi on September 18, 2026. Budget it like any other splurge, and see where a festival splurge fits in an Italy budget.
Summer Festivals in Italy: the Palio, the Redentore and the Big Nights
Italy’s summer run starts with Gubbio’s Corsa dei Ceri on May 15, 2027, and doesn’t let up until Venice’s Regata Storica on September 5. In between come the Palio, the Redentore fireworks and Palermo’s Santa Rosalia. That last one drew about 400,000 people in 2026, by the mayor’s count (PalermoToday).
May. Gubbio races three tall wooden towers up Monte Ingino every May 15. That’s the Corsa dei Ceri. In mid-May, Noto covers Via Nicolaci in flowers. In 2026 the Infiorata ran May 15 to 19, and the walkway cost €5 (Noto News). Spello lays about 1,500 square metres of flower carpets on the night of May 29 (Infiorate di Spello). The Biennale Architettura opens in Venice on May 8 (La Biennale).
June. Verona’s Arena opens its 104th opera festival with a Beethoven gala on June 11. The season runs to September 11, and seats start at €22 (Fondazione Arena di Verona). It’s the reason to time a Verona visit. On June 16, Pisa lights about 100,000 candles along the Arno for the Luminara (Pisa tourism office). Arezzo runs its June joust, the Giostra del Saracino, on June 19 (Giostra del Saracino). Florence plays its Calcio Storico final on June 24. It’s the city’s patron saint’s day.
July. The Palio runs on July 2. Umbria Jazz fills Perugia from July 9 to 18 (Umbria Jazz). On the night of July 14, Santa Rosalia’s procession winds through Palermo. It’s the best argument for Palermo in July, heat and all. Venice’s Redentore fireworks go up over the Bacino on Saturday July 17. The waterfront is free, but the Comune requires a booking for waterfront and boat spots (Comune di Venezia, Redentore).
August. The second Palio is on August 16. Here’s the thing no calendar tells you: weather moves it. In 2026 the July race ran a day late, on July 3, after rain (Comune di Siena). The August race was postponed twice and ran on August 18 (Sky TG24). Anyone flying home on the 17th missed it. Leave a buffer day after any open-air race.
Late August belongs to Salento’s Notte della Taranta. It’s a free all-night folk concert in Melpignano, and the 2026 finale ran on August 22 (La Notte della Taranta). The 2027 date isn’t out yet. It’s the anchor for Salento in Taranta season. Ferragosto, Sunday August 15, is Italy’s own holiday. State museums stay open at normal prices (Ministero della Cultura), but the coast fills, and so do the summer heat and the crowds that come with it.
September. Now look at Sunday September 5, 2027. Venice holds its Regata Storica on the first Sunday of September (Comune di Venezia), and so does Asti its Palio. Arezzo’s September joust has run on the first Sunday too (September 6 in 2026). Two days earlier, on September 3, Viterbo’s porters carry the 30-metre Macchina di Santa Rosa through the dark (Comune di Viterbo). You can’t do all of them. Pick one.
What’s On in Autumn and Winter?
From late October to January, Italy’s festival calendar is food, fairs and markets. Alba’s White Truffle Fair runs to December 6, 2026. Its truffle market opens on weekends only, and entry is €6 (Fiera Internazionale del Tartufo Bianco d’Alba). Lucca Comics runs October 28 to November 1, and the Alpine Christmas markets open from November 20.
Alba is holding its 96th fair. The market in the Cortile della Maddalena opens Saturdays and Sundays, 9:30am to 7:30pm. It drew about 90,000 entries from 70 countries in 2025 (TorinoCronaca). Go on a Saturday morning, then spend the afternoon in the Langhe cellars in truffle season. A truffle-hunting morning pairs well with a class that uses the truffle.
Lucca Comics & Games marks its 60th year from October 28 to November 1. A one-day ticket costs €26.50 to €34.50, depending on the day. All five days cost €95. Entry is capped at 80,000 people a day (Lucca Comics & Games, tickets). The 2025 edition sold 280,000 tickets (La Nazione), and the whole walled town becomes the venue.
Eurochocolate moves from October to November this year, filling Perugia from November 13 to 22 (Eurochocolate). The 2025 edition logged 1,068,795 visits by the Comune’s count (Comune di Perugia).
The Christmas markets open in stages. Trento goes first on November 20 (Visit Trento). Merano (Merano tourism office) and Bressanone follow on November 26, and Bolzano opens on November 27, the day after its lighting ceremony (Mercatino di Natale Bolzano). All four run to January 6. They close on Christmas Day, except Trento, which opens from 4pm to 8pm that day. Combine one with the Alpine side of an Italian winter. A guide to skiing in Italy for the coming season follows on October 24.
Winter’s saints’ days are the local ones. Naples waits for San Gennaro’s blood to liquefy in the Duomo three times a year. The dates are December 16, the Saturday before the first Sunday in May (May 1, 2027) and September 19. Plan Naples on a San Gennaro day and get to the cathedral early. In Catania, Sant’Agata brings three days of processions, February 3 to 5. The saint’s reliquary is carried through the streets (Comune di Catania, 2026 programme).
Rome and Milan close the season. Rome’s Befana arrives in Piazza Navona on January 6, and on April 21 the city celebrates its own birthday, the Natale di Roma. The 2027 programme isn’t out yet. Spring’s big trade week follows in Milan, where the Salone del Mobile runs April 13 to 18, 2027 (Salone del Mobile).
Which Italian Public Holidays Change Your Trip?
Italy has 12 national public holidays plus Easter Sunday, and since 2026 one of them is new. Law 151 of October 8, 2025 restored October 4, the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, as a national holiday from January 1, 2026 (Gazzetta Ufficiale). It lands on a Sunday in 2026 and a Monday in 2027.
| Date | Holiday | Weekday |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 4, 2026 | San Francesco (new from 2026) | Sunday |
| Nov 1, 2026 | All Saints | Sunday |
| Dec 8, 2026 | Immaculate Conception | Tuesday |
| Dec 25, 2026 | Christmas Day | Friday |
| Dec 26, 2026 | Santo Stefano | Saturday |
| Jan 1, 2027 | New Year’s Day | Friday |
| Jan 6, 2027 | Epiphany | Wednesday |
| Mar 28, 2027 | Easter Sunday | Sunday |
| Mar 29, 2027 | Easter Monday | Monday |
| Apr 25, 2027 | Liberation Day | Sunday |
| May 1, 2027 | Labour Day | Saturday |
| Jun 2, 2027 | Republic Day | Wednesday |
| Aug 15, 2027 | Ferragosto | Sunday |
Holidays matter to a trip in two ways. Long weekends, the ponti, fill trains and coasts with Italians. Watch the Easter weekend, March 27 to 29, and Monday October 4, 2027, the first San Francesco to make a long weekend. Patron saints’ days also close offices locally: June 29 in Rome, December 7 in Milan, June 24 in Florence and Turin, and April 25 in Venice.
Strikes can sink a festival day too. Transport unions must announce them at least 10 days ahead, and every one goes on the Ministry of Transport’s strike calendar. Check which trains run on strike days before you lock in a festival date. What actually closes on each holiday gets its own guide, Italian Holidays and Festivals, out December 1.
Festivals in Italy: FAQ
What is the biggest festival in Italy?
By reach, Venice’s Carnevale, which runs 18 days in 2027 from January 23 to February 9. By counted attendance, Perugia’s Eurochocolate logged 1,068,795 visits in 2025 (Comune di Perugia). By intensity, nothing beats Siena’s Palio, 90 seconds of racing watched by a packed Campo twice a summer.
When is Venice Carnival in 2027?
January 23 to February 9, 2027, per the official Carnevale di Venezia site. February 9 is Shrove Tuesday, the fixed end. Some sites say January 30, which is the traditional ten-day window rather than the organiser’s programme. The 2027 theme and the Volo dell’Angelo date are usually announced in November or December.
Can you watch the Palio di Siena for free?
Yes. The centre of the Campo is free and open until it fills, usually hours before the evening start. Seats cost €300 to €600 in the stands and €700 to €1,500 or more on balconies (La Nazione). Rain moved both 2026 races, to July 3 and August 18, so leave a buffer day.
What festivals are in Italy in October?
Alba’s White Truffle Fair runs from October 10 to December 6, with its market open on weekends at €6 (Fiera del Tartufo). Lucca Comics & Games runs October 28 to November 1, with tickets from €26.50. Trieste’s Barcolana regatta usually sails on the second Sunday of October, and in 2025 it drew 1,865 boats and about 483,000 people ashore (Il Piccolo). And from 2026, October 4 is a national holiday.
When is the best time to visit Italy for festivals?
Late January to early February for carnival, when Venice, Viareggio and Ivrea overlap on February 7 to 9, 2027. Late June to mid-July for summer nights, from Florence’s June 24 final to the July 17 Redentore. Early September for the Regata Storica and Asti’s Palio, both on September 5, 2027.
The Bottom Line
Festivals in Italy reward the traveller who checks the date against the organiser and books the room first. Everything else is detail.
- Venice Carnevale runs January 23 to February 9, 2027, not from January 30.
- Easter on March 28, 2027 sets the whole spring, from Ivrea to Spello.
- The Palio runs July 2 and August 16. Add a buffer day, because rain moved both races in 2026.
- The piazza is free. Paid spots, from €5 to €1,500, are the cost.
- September 5 belongs to Venice and Asti at once.
- October 4 is a national holiday again.
Pick one festival, book the room before the flight, and build the rest of the trip around it. If it’s your first time, start with 15 things I wish someone had told me about Italy, then work the dates into the complete Italy travel guide.
