Events

How to find events in and around Naples, Italy...

Ongoing Festivals, etc:

• • Farmer's Markets - all over the city

  • Multicinema Modernissimo - films in original language (e.g. English, German...)

  • Antique Fair - at Villa Comunale (near Castel dell'Ovo) from 8-2, closed Aug.

  • Teatro di Napoli - Various productions of Shakespeare and Beckett, among other things, mostly in Italian (!).

  • Soccer Games - See the rest of their schedule on the team website, or Yahoo sports; see the Napoli Soccer page for more info about going to games.  For TV, most games are pay-per-view, but your local bar is probably showing the game

  • San Carlo Opera - the beautiful San Carlo opera house near Piazza del Plebiscito was restored in ~2009; in addition to operas they host various other concerts.  See San Carlo page for details on getting tickets.

  • Ravello Music Festival - concerts including some in beautiful Villa Rufolo

  • 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..."

  • Fondazione Pietà de' Turchini - group that plays Classical music from before ~1750 including local concerts, seems really good!

Recurring Yearly Events

• • early/mid- May - Palio del Casale in Camposano/Cicciano - similar to the bigger Siena palio, this crazy medieval (sometimes Roman?) donkey race takes place just north of Nola

  • 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

  • summer (often July) - Napoli Pizza Village - learn how it's made and try lots of pizzas, plus concerts and other fun stuff, at Mostra d'Oltremare (formerly "Pizzafest")

  • early Aug - Campi Flegrei Sea Festival - concerts and food in Monte di Procida.

  • 15 Aug - "Ferragosto", the Assumption of the Virgin Mary (although originally was a Roman festival celebrating Emperor Augustus), 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 - Festa di San Gennaro / Feast of San Gennaro; famous "liquification of blood" in the Duomo (Cathedral) and various events throughout Naples and Pozzuoli.  Procession starts in the Cathedral at 9:00 and continues until the blood liquifies. 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 --> might not be running anymore??

Websites for Events

The following websites can help you learn about events in Naples:

• • Napoli Unplugged - Bonnie Alberts keeps this great site up to date with lots of local events

  • Naples Panorama - Lou Freed, a writer who lives in Pozzuoli, often contributes articles about events going on in and near Naples.

  • Campania Region Website - has a list of events; the region also has a separate Cultural Events page that is translated into English and lets you search by province.

  • Eventiesagre - a website detailing events throughout Italy; click on Campania for events near Naples.

  • Campania Region Agricultural Council - lists upcoming food-related festivals around the region

  • Napoli Comune Calendar - offers PDFs detailing events by category (sports, music, food, etc....in Italian)

  • Karen Phillips' AndiamoTrips - fun events around Naples, especially involving wine

  • 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); some official events in Pozzuoli are posted at pozzuolionline. Napolimotus and InfoNapoli Newsletter are similar for Naples.  Also check out Napoli Today.

  • Zero Napoli - a small guidebook/website that features concerts and nightlife events.

  • 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

The following venues host events in Naples:

• • 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

Also check out www.ticketone.it and www.musiczone.it for tickets to big concerts throughout Italy.  Jeff Matthews' Around Naples page also has a list of Cultural Venues.

Outside of Naples

The following are some major events outside of the Naples area that are popular:

• • Palio in Siena (July 2nd and Aug 16th)

  • Chocofest (Eurochocolate) in Perugia (mid to late October)

  • Carnevale in Venice (the 2 weeks before Ash Wednesday)

  • Oktoberfest in Munich (late September)

    • some folks say the Cannstattter Volksfest in Stuttgart is just as fun but with fewer international

  • 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