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Local Holiday/Festivals - Fun or Fatality?

Posted by on

As I was reading through the RS Guidebook and updates for 2015, I stumbled upon the following information:

June 24: St. John the Baptist Day (Rome); Festival of St. John the Baptist (Florence; parades, dances, boat races; closures); and Calcio Fiorentino (costumed soccer game on Florence’s Piazza Santa Croce)
June 29: Sts. Peter and Paul’s Day (most fervently celebrated in Rome)

Well, you guessed it. We are scheduled to leave Florence on the morning of June 24th and will be staying in Rome on June 29th. Does anyone know if we need to worry about train schedule interruptions or difficulties getting to the train station due to the festival in Florence? Will restaurants, museums, or sites be closed on June 29th in Rome? (Several websites seem to infer that the cities shut down!) OR, should we expect an extra dose of cultural fun and festivity while we are there?

Please help! We are locked into these dates. We are not sure what to expect at all, so would appreciate any information, especially as we need to make transportation arrangements. Thanks, as always for your input.

Posted by
1054 posts

I would change my departure and leave Florence later in the evening and attend the Calcio Fiorentino. I was in tuscany for local festivals this august and loved them.

Roberto on here may chime in with some information on them.

Posted by
11852 posts

Will restaurants, museums, or sites be closed on June 29th in Rome?

No - Rome will be open for business. Some small shops will close, especially outside of the center, but it is high season and you can expect plenty of activity. Of course check specific sites (online) for possible closures as it is a religious holiday churches in particular may be affected.

As to trains, it will most likely be business as usual. There are seldom strikes on festival days. City buses will run less frequently, though.

Posted by
11613 posts

Churches may limit visiting hours if they schedule more masses, but overall you should have no problems. Since you know your travel dates, reserve your train tickets out of Florence (if you are going by fast train) up to 120 days ahead, you will have a reserved seat allocated with the ticket purchase.

Posted by
16243 posts

June 24 (St. John the Baptist) is Florence's patron saint day. It works like a Sunday but only within Florence city limits. Trains and intercity buses are not affected at all. City buses (ATAF=Florence Bus Agency) follow the holiday schedule (which isn't much different from the rest of the week). Many shops close, but not so much in the tourist areas of the historical center.
The main events on that day are the Calcio Storico final on Piazza Santa Croce (in the afternoon) and the fireworks in the evening (starting at 9pm from Piazzale Michelangelo). Since most people watch the fireworks from along the Arno river in front of piazzale Michelangelo, traffic is closed off along the Arno west of Ponte San Niccolo' (but traffic is horrible anywhere in the area after 7pm). Other than that, it's like any other Sunday. If you have seen fireworks displays before, there is no need to watch the ones in Florence. They are all the same as anywhere else.

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