National Holidays & Festivals in Italy

Italians like to celebrate. Beyond the national holidays, every town has a patron saint, most have a sagra (a food festival built around one local dish) and plenty stage a horse race, a joust or a costumed parade that has run for centuries. Something is being celebrated somewhere in Italy on almost every day of the year.

That can make your trip or wreck your plans. Land in Siena on the day of the Palio on purpose and you’ll remember it for life. Arrive by accident and you’ll find the hotels full and the Campo closed off. Turn up in a small town on 15 August hoping to buy groceries and you’ll find the shutters down. So check what’s on when you’ll be there, then decide whether to run toward it or away from it.

What a national holiday means for your trip

• Banks, offices and many shops close. In big cities, chain stores, supermarkets and anything aimed at tourists often stay open; in smaller towns, expect most things to shut.
• Museums vary. State museums and sites open on most holidays but usually close on 1 January, 1 May and 25 December. The Vatican Museums follow the Church calendar and close on several religious holidays. Check the official site for the exact day you plan to visit.
• Transport runs, but on a reduced schedule. Local buses and regional trains often run a Sunday timetable, and trains out of the big cities fill up before long weekends. Book high-speed trains early for Easter, the 25 April and 1 May weekends, 2 June and mid-August.
• Watch for the ponte. When a holiday falls on a Tuesday or Thursday, many Italians take the Monday or Friday off too and “bridge” to a four-day weekend. Beach towns, lakes and hotels fill up. In 2027 that happens around 6 January, 2 June and 8 December, which all fall on a Wednesday, and around 4 October and 1 November, which fall on a Monday.
• August is its own season. Around Ferragosto on 15 August, many city restaurants and family-run shops close for a week or two while their owners head for the coast, and the beaches are packed with Italians.
• A local patron saint’s day is a local holiday. Offices and some shops close in that city only: Rome on 29 June, Florence and Turin on 24 June, Naples on 19 September, Bologna on 4 October and Milan on 7 December.

Italy’s National Public Holidays in 2027

4 October became a national holiday again in 2026, under a 2025 law. Italy doesn’t move a holiday to the Monday when it falls on a weekend, so a Saturday or Sunday holiday is simply lost. For the rest of 2026, the remaining holidays are 1 November (a Sunday), 8 December (a Tuesday, so expect a ponte on Monday 7 December, which is also Milan’s patron saint’s day), 25 December (Friday) and 26 December (Saturday).

How to read the calendar below

The list mixes national public holidays, holidays that are official but not widely observed, and the best-known local festivals. It’s far from complete. For a sagra near where you’re staying, ask at the tourist office or look for the posters taped to shop windows, which is how most Italians find out.

• bold = national holidays (banks, businesses and some attractions closed all day or part of the day)
• italics = official commemorations that aren’t days off
• regular text = events and festivals, often local or regional
• [brackets] = the Italian name
• * = the same date every year

Calendar of Holidays & Events in Italy

Dates marked * are the same every year. For the others, the timing below is the usual pattern, so check the event’s own site for this year’s dates before you plan around it.

January in Italy

1: New Year’s Day [Capodanno]*
6: Epiphany [Epifania]*
7: Flag Day [Festa del Tricolore]*
27: International Holocaust Remembrance Day [Giorno della Memoria]*
Late January to Shrove Tuesday: Carnival in Venice [Carnevale] (it always ends on Shrove Tuesday, which falls anywhere from early February to early March; in 2027 it runs from late January to 9 February)

February in Italy

February or March: Almond Blossom Festival in Agrigento [Mandorlo in Fiore]
11: The Lateran Pacts [Patti Lateranensi]*
14: Valentine’s Day*
Last three days of Carnival: Carnevale d’Ivrea and its Battle of the Oranges (7 to 9 February in 2027)
Mid-February: CioccolaTÒ in Turin (the 2026 edition ran 13 to 17 February)
Mid to late February: Sanremo Music Festival (16 to 20 February in 2027)

March in Italy

8: International Women’s Day [Festa della Donna]*
March: Rome Marathon [Maratona di Roma]
19: Saint Joseph’s Day [Festa di San Giuseppe]*
A weekend in spring: Open Monuments Weekend [Giornate FAI di Primavera] (the dates change every year)
25: Pisan New Year*
March or April: Easter Sunday [Pasqua] and Easter Monday [Pasquetta] (28 and 29 March in 2027)

April in Italy

1: April Fool’s Day [Pesce d’Aprile]*
April: Vinitaly wine fair in Verona
April: Milan Marathon [Maratona di Milano]
21: Anniversary of the Founding of Rome [Natale di Roma]*
25: Liberation Day [Festa della Liberazione]*
25: Feast Day for Saint Mark (also known as the “Rosebud Festival”) in Venice*

May in Italy

1: International Workers’ Day [Festa dei Lavoratori]*
May: Tour of Italy Bicycle Race [Giro d’Italia] (it often starts outside Italy; the 2026 race started in Bulgaria and finished in Rome)
9: Europe Day [Giorno Europeo]*
15: Race of Candles in Gubbio [Corsa dei Ceri]*

June in Italy

2: Republic Day [Festa della Repubblica]*
June: Quintana Joust in Foligno [Giostra della Quintana di Foligno] (it runs again in September)
June: Saracen Joust in Arezzo [Giostra del Saracino] (it runs again in September)
June to early September: Verona Opera Festival
24: Feast Day for Saint John the Baptist in Turin, Genoa, & Florence*
24: Historic “Soccer” Match in Florence [Calcio Storico] (the final; the earlier matches are played in June too)
Late June to mid-July: Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto [Festival dei Due Mondi]
29: Feast Day for Saints Peter & Paul in Rome*
Last Saturday of June: Battle of the Bridge in Pisa [Gioco del Ponte]

July in Italy

June to early September: Verona Opera Festival
Late June to mid-July: Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto [Festival dei Due Mondi]
2: Palio in Siena*
Third weekend of July: Feast of the Redeemer in Venice [Il Redentore]
15: Feast Day for Saint Rosalia in Palermo*

August in Italy

June to early September: Verona Opera Festival
Early August: Quintana Joust in Ascoli-Piceno [Giostra della Quintana]
Early August: Rowing Contest in La Spezia [Palio del Golfo]
15: Assumption Day [Ferragosto]*
16: Palio in Siena*
29: Feast of the Redeemer in Nuoro [Sagra del Redentore]*
Late August to early September: Venice International Film Festival

September in Italy

June to early September: Verona Opera Festival
Late August to early September: Venice International Film Festival
First Sunday of September: Historic Regatta in Venice [Regata Storica]
First Sunday of September: Palio in Asti
7: Rificolona Festival in Florence [Festa della Rificolona]*
Second weekend of September: Living Chess Match in Marostica (this only takes place in even-numbered years)
September: Prosciutto Festival in Parma [Festival del Prosciutto di Parma]
16: Juliet’s Birthday in Verona*
19: Feast Day for Saint Gennaro in Naples*

October in Italy

4: Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi [San Francesco]* (a national holiday again from 2026)
4: Feast Day for Saint Petronius in Bologna*
Weekends from October into December: White Truffle Fair in Alba [Fiera Internazionale del Tartufo Bianco d’Alba]
Late October: Venice Marathon [Maratona di Venezia]
30: Feast Day for Saint Saturnino in Cagliari*
31: Halloween*

November in Italy

Weekends from October into December: White Truffle Fair in Alba [Fiera Internazionale del Tartufo Bianco d’Alba]
1: All Saints Day [Ognissanti or Tutti i Santi]*
2: Day of the Dead [Giorno dei Morti]*
3: Feast Day for Saint Giusto in Trieste*
November: EuroChocolate in Perugia (it moved from October to November in 2026, when it ran 13 to 22 November)
Late November: Florence Marathon [Maratona di Firenze]

December in Italy

6: Feast Day for Saint Nicola in Bari*
7: Feast Day for Saint Ambrose in Milan*
8: Immaculate Conception [Immacolata Concezione]*
25: Christmas Day [Natale]*
26: Saint Stephen’s Day [Santo Stefano]*

photo by GuideEbook