Italian Holidays

Your stay in Italy will be enlivened by some holidays and celebrations you may not have heard about before, in fact apart from international holidays such as 1st January (Capodanno), 1st May (Primo maggio), you will be involved in religious celebrations and national celebrations considered as days off.
So let’s go through the Italian calendar of national holidays.

January
1st Capodanno (New Year’s day).
6th La befana (Epiphany). On this day, Catholics remember the day the Three Kings brought presents to the baby Jesus. In the Italian tradition, it has become the day of La Befana, an old lady who brings sweets or coal to kids. During the night between 5th and 6th January she flies on her broom, entering homes and leaving presents in the socks kids have previously hung on the fireplace. This day is celebrated as a big event in Rome in Piazza Navona, where children are taken to meet Befanas.

March
Pasqua (Easter Sunday). Movable (it can also occur in April).
Pasquetta, or Lunedì di Pasqua (Easter Monday). Monday after Easter (it can also occur in April): on this day you may not find anybody around, because Italians get together with their friends for picnics in the mountains, at the beach or at restaurants, to spend a relaxing day before going back to work.

April
25th Giorno della liberazione (Liberation day). On this day Italians remember the day Italy was freed from the Nazi fascism in 1945.

May
1st Festa del lavoro (Workers' Day).

June
2nd Festa della Repubblica Italiana (Italian Republic Day). Remembering the 2nd June 1946 when Italians chose Republic over Monarchy, voting in a referendum.

August
15th Ferragosto (Assumption day). On this day Italians get together with their friends to spend a day out, having fun, relaxing in the mountains or at the beach. If you are on a beach on that day, you’d better forget about lying in the sun quietly do nothing but getting brown: this is the day of water jokes, and you are expected not to get angry if you are thrown a gavettone, i.e. a water-filled bag or even a bucket. Big events are organised on the night of the 14th; wherever you are, don’t miss the fireworks at midnight!

November
1st Ognissanti (All Saints Day). Italians commemorate their beloved deceased bringing flowers on their graves.

December
8th L’Immacolata (the Immaculate Conception of Jesus)
25th Natale (Christmas)
26th Santo Stefano (St. Stephen’s Day)
31st San Silvestro (St. Silvester’s Day)

A concept strictly related to holidays is fare il ponte (to take a long weekend; literally: to make a bridge) which means that if a religious festival or national holiday is on a Tuesday or Thursday, Italians often make it into a four-day holiday, by taking off the intervening Monday or Friday. Moreover, besides national holidays, there are many religious holidays that differ from town to town depending on the Patron Saint. For example: 29th June is the commemoration of Saints Peter and Paul, the patron saints of Rome, 7th December celebrates St. Ambrose in Milan; on these days Romani and Milanesi take a day off.