Upcoming Events in (and near) Naples

• 11/23-11/29 Salerno International Film Festival
• 11/24-11/29 STOMP, 18-42 euro (depends on date and seats), also see PDF.
• 11/27 "Chocolate, What Passion!" Chocolate/liquor tasting and buffet at Royal Continental Hotel at 9 PM, 15 euro entry
• 11/27-11/29 Olive, Mozzarella, and Wine festival in Sant'Anastasia (north slope of Vesuvius, ~30 min east of Naples)
• 11/27-11/29 BenTorrone festival (Torrone nougat) in Benevento, ~1 hour north of Support Site
• 11/27 9 PM Scarlatti/Bernstein/Gardel concert at RAI Auditorium (near JFC) with Nuovo Orchestra Scarlatti (see link below)
• 11/27 through 12/6 "Cats" the musical by Andrew Lloyd Weber (in Italian!)
• 11/28 Caserta "Palace of Wonders" 5 PM parade of soldiers in Bourbon-era costumes, various other events until 11:15 fireworks.
• 11/28-11/29 Used & Barter Fair in Mostra d'Oltremare (near JFC), 10 AM - 9:30 PM (final entry 8:30), 7 euro entry fee, free <12 or >70.
• 11/28-11/29 Valle di Maddaloni anti-blood disorder (thalassemia) event, including benefit dinner/lunch, etc.
• 11/28-12/8 Pompei Expo - free expo at Santuario della Beata Vergine M-F 4:30 PM -10:30 PM, Sat/Sun 9:30 AM - 10:30 PM focusing on housewear "made in italy"
• 11/29 11 AM Nuovo Orchestra Scarlatti plays Vivaldi's Four Seasons along with Barber and Bernstein (part of a longer concert series), at RAI Auditorium (near JFC)
• 11/29 Dueling olive oil festivals!  11 AM - 8 PM Bread, oil, and olive press (i.e. olive oil) festival in Piana di Monte Verna (hill town north of Caserta, ~40 min from Support Site) 10 AM - 6 PM Bread and oil festival in Cerreto Sannita (another mountain town, NE of Support Site ~1 hour)
• 11/29-11/30 "Talking to Winemakers" Wine Grower's Panel and Tasting at Villa Signorini in Ercolano (town outside Herculaneum) -- for details see this site, entry is free but you have to reserve in advance by emailing michelaguadagno@libero.it
• 12/4-12/8 "Showcolate" Chocolate Festival in Mostra d'Oltremare (near JFC), 10:30-8:30 (except starts 12:00 on the 4th), 3 euro entry, kids under 6 free, 7 eeuro for 2 parents and 2 kids under 12.  4-7 euro tastings can be reserved online.  See Notes for more information.
  
• 12/6 Naples home game against Bari (see Soccer Games, below)
• 12/10 9 PM Castel Sant'Elmo Ensemble Zefiro playing Mozart in RAI Auditorium (see Scarlatti Association, below)
• 12/10 and 12/13 9 PM Chamber music (Scarlatti, Pergolesi, Handel) by Convivio Armonico at Teatro Sancarluccio near Piazza Amadeo...part of a larger concert series
• 12/14 - 8:30 Julie and Julia in English...every Monday at 8:30 films in original language (e.g. Engilsh, German...) at Cinema Modernissimo (not far from Piazza Plebescito).  See schedule or PDF flyer.
• 12/16 9 PM Ensemble Akademia playing Bach cantatas and Magnificat at RAI Auditorium (see Scarlatti Association, below)
• 12/27-1/2 Capri Hollywood Festival (films, etc.)
• Naples Chamber Music Festival - concerts throughout November, some in the Archeological Museum
• Antique Fair - at Villa Comunale (near Castel dell'Ovo) 11/28, 11/29, 12/5, 12/6, 12/12, 12/13, 12/19, 12/20 from 8-2.
• Teatro Stabile Napoli - Various productions of Shakespeare and Beckett, among other things, mostly in Italian (!).  For example, you can see "Re Lear" (King Lear) from 4/27-5/2.  11/12-11/15 Shakespeare Sonnets (in English) turned into a stage drama.  2/2-2/7 John Turturo's play about Italian Fables (in English).
• Soccer Games - Home games: 11/26 against Cittadella (Coppa Italia), 12/6 against Bari, 12/20 against Chievo (see the rest of their schedule on the team website, UEFA.com, or Yahoo sports; learn about the team at the S.S.C. Napoli Wikipedia entry).  Most games are pay-per-view, but you can usually find a free Internet stream at myp2p.eu.
• San Carlo Opera - the beautiful San Carlo opera house near Piazza Plebescito is newly restored; their opera season is over but they have various other concerts over the next few months in other locations (such as Capri, the Royal Palace Courtyard next to San Carlo, and the Rai Auditiorium), with a good amount of Mozart and Beethoven.  See San Carlo page for details on getting tickets.
• Ravello Music Festival - concerts continue including some in beautiful Villa Rufolo; the main Festival Webpage has a separate list of "bigger" concerts and events.
• Scarlatti Association Classical Concerts - various (mostly chamber music) performances, throughout the year:  among the concerts are
• Nuovo Orchestra Alessandro Scarlatti - What can I say?  Scarlatti was Naples' most famous musical son, so yet another association bears his name.  This wonderful ensemble features various concerts throughout the year, including the beautiful "Barocco e..."
• Centro di Musica Turchini - also hosts various classical concerts
• Trabaci Organ Association - hosts organ concerts in Naples

Recurring Yearly Events

• early May - Camposano Palio - similar to the bigger Siena palio, this crazy medieval (sometimes Roman?) donkey race takes place near Nola.  (2009's palio is 2-3 May.)
• May - Maggio dei Monumenti; a number of normally closed buildings (palaces, etc.) are open to the public, and many museums and monuments are free.
• Varies - Carnevale is just before lent, featuring parties and lasagne.
• June - Nola Gigli Festival (Torneo dei Gigli) - a huge tower carried throughout the town
• 16 July - "Burning" of Santa Maria della Carmine campanile (bell tower)
• late July - Neapolis rock/pop festival
• early Aug - Campi Flegrei Sea Festival - concerts and food in Monte di Procida.
• 15 Aug - "Ferragosto", the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, the heart of the Italian vacation season as well as a time for various celebrations (Pozzuoli pole climbing, Positano Saracen invader re-enactment, Monte di Procida weeklong party and statue procession, etc.)
• 19 Sept - Feast of San Gennaro; famous "liquification of blood" in the Duomo (Cathedral) and various events throughout Naples and Pozzuoli.  There are also a smaller celebrations where his blood liquifies on December 16th (commemorating the day his relics allegedly stopped Vesuvius from destroying Naples) and the first Sunday in May.
• Sept - Piedigrotta Festival - celebrates the Madonna of Piedigrotta; lots of concerts with Neapolitan songs, typically they will open up the Crypta Neapolitana (ancient Roman tunnel under Posillipo that connected Piedigrotta with Fuorigrotta, after which both neighborhoods were named) for tours.
• mid-Sept (in 2009 it's 9/10-9/20) - Pizzafest - learn how it's made and try lots of pizzas, plus concerts and other fun stuff, at Mostra d'Oltremare

Websites for Events

• Naples Panorama - Lou Freed, a writer who lives in Pozzuoli, often contributes articles about events going on in and near Naples.
• inCampania - a flash website run by the Campania tourist bureau listing events throughout the region; also includes PDF guides to each province (under "Itineraries" at the top)
• Eventiesagre - a website detailing events throughout Italy; click on Campania for events near Naples.
• Napoli Comune Calendar - offers PDFs detailing events by category (sports, music, food, etc....in Italian)
• Caserta News and Napoli.com - two newspapers which report on events near Naples (in Italian)
• Ciro Biondi's Blog - discusses events and news in the Pozzuoli area (in Italian)  Napolimotus is similar for Naples.
• Zero Napoli - a small guidebook/website that features concerts and nightlife events.
• CampaniaTour - a website that exhaustively lists festivals and events throughout Campania (in Italian) --> note: as of late 2009, CampaniaTour has become less useful; inCAmpania or Eventiesagre generally have better information
• Qui Napoli - a service of the Naples tourist bureau, this (mostly) bilingual booklet is available at tourism offices and online --> note: as of late 2009, Qui Napoli has been consistently late and incomplete
• Trovasagre - another list of (mostly food) festivals...another one is here.

Venues for Events

• San Carlo Opera House (the oldest opera house in Europe; their orchestra also appears in many classical concerts throughout the city)
• Villa Rufolo (Ravello Music Festival)
• Mostra d'Oltremare (hosts Neapolis, a rock festival; near JFC/soccer stadium)
• Caserta Royal Palace (various events, such as the Autumn Music Festival)
• Pozzuoli Amphitheatre (Flegreinarte music festival)
• Palapartenope Theater (rock concerts, etc. just west of Mostra d'Oltremare; near JFC)
• Rai Auditorium (near JFC, 40°49'35"N   14°11'23"E)

Outside of Naples

• Palio in Siena (July 2nd and Aug 16th)
• Chocofest in Perugia
• Carnevale in Venice
• Oktoberfest in Munich
• San Fermines (Running of the Bulls) in Pamplona (July 7-14)
• Bastille Day in France (July 14th)
• Notte Bianco in Rome
• Christmas Markets - various places such as Trento, Les Plaisirs d'Hiver in Brussels, Christkindelsmärk in Strasbourg, Frankfurt, Christkindelsmarkt in Nürnberg (Friday before Advent until 12/24), Köln (Cologne), Montreux in Switzerland, Christkindlmarkt in Vienna, Copenhagen, Julmarknade in Sigtuna (Sweden, near Stockholm), Prague, Krakow, Budapest, Riga, Luxembourg City, Ljubljana, and Helsinki.
• Triathlons - see separate page for triathlons (Olympic distance or lower) in and around Italy