Looking for Festivals similar to the Calendimaggio in Assisi

Hi, I have attended these festivals in Italy. See if any of these appeal to you. (And I am planning to be at Asti for their Palio this year.)

Arezzo - jousting festival. It is twice yearly. It’s an all-day event.

Pisa - Luminara di San Ranieri on June 16 each year. 70,000 wax candles are the only illumination on the river, plus some fireworks at the end.

Bari - San Nichola Segesta is May 7-9 each year. I’ve attended this one twice. Besides the religious focus & processions, there’s street fair food along the promenade, fireworks a couple of nights, music, etc.

Other festivals in Italy I enjoyed but not the atmosphere you’re requesting:
Venice - Regatta Storica
Spello - Infiorate
Stresa - Stresa Music Festival
Grosseto - a night misc. local festival

This is great, I can't wait to do some investigating. Thank you so much! By the way, if you haven't been to the Calendimaggio, please check it out. It happen in Mid May.

These may lean more towards music and theater but also with a general festival atmosphere: Avignon, France theater festival (July), Salzburg, Austria festival (July). Then there's: Carnival in Cologne, Germany (Feb), Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland (Aug), Frankfurt, Germany Apple Wine festival (Aug), and of course can't forget Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany (Sep-Oct).

Exley,
We will be in Assisi next May for the festival could you tell us a little more detail such as where on-line did you purchase tickets, how far in advance, etc.

Hi Barbara,

Basically, the festival is a giant pageant that happens in the main square. They set up bleachers on one side that face the stage, as if you were going to a parade. You have to have bleacher seats to attend and I highly recommend buying them early. An elaborate story is told in the course of six 'plays'. One each afternoon and then another at night over three days. Each one is different. But it's a spectacle that literally the entire town participates in. You will see hundreds of people in amazing costumes and moving giant set pieces. And fire, a lot of fire and pyrotechnics at night. When you walk around town during the morning, every street is filled with people building sets, trying on costumes, etc. It's nuts. We got lucky. We got great upper center seats on the bleachers and then booked an Airbnb only a block from the square.
This is the site where you book the seats. There's no info now since this year's festival just happened.
https://www.calendimaggiodiassisi.com/
This site has a good overview of the event-
https://www.amoitaly.com/assisi/calendimaggio.html

Good luck!

Sorry to hijack the OP, but what about Festa di Santa Croce in Lucca on 13 Sept? We will happen to be in Florence from 12 Sept to 15 Sept and were thinking we might go from Florence to Pisa, Pisa to Lucca (for the festival), then back to our hotel in Florence. It sounds like a long night, with driving around midnight.

I know that "is it worth it" isn't usually a fair question, but is the festival in Lucca worth it?

@mnunes, I stayed in Lucca for several days but couldn’t stay long enough for that festival. I did see the grid frames being placed on buildings in anticipation of the festival, though.

I attended the Spello Infiorate a few years ago, arriving by train and staying three nights - no transportation issues. Last year, one of the couples in our local RS monthly meet up group tried to attend it, but they were in a complete gridlock on the highway to Spello with a car. They finally gave up and turned around missing the festival. This info from a Tuscany site sounds like you might run into a similar issue:

”Getting around Lucca: I highly suggest avoiding using a car to get to Lucca on special occasions such as this: the Holy Cross celebrations attract people from everywhere so it will be crowded. I strongly suggest you get there by train, as the rail station is close to the city center and you may easily walk under and through the walls to reach the center. If you have a car, parking lots are outside of the center and might end up parked further than walking distance to the center.”

hey hey
@mnunes forget the car, take the train with no stress and headaches. go for it, you'll regret later. you are so close
few years back, 4 of us friends stayed in florence and one friend's first trip to italy. wanted to see venice. we double booked a room in venice, kept apt in florence got on the train and off we went. best thing we did to see as much as we could and friend was so so happy. hotel kept our overnight bag until we took later train back to florence, hotel was across grand canal from train station. spent money for trip so we just dished out about $200 for train and hotel, instead of spending $$$ for a nice dinner. (ate rice and beans when we got back to california LOL)
@exley
couple festivals we've been to but not similar to yours but lots of eat drink & be merry
festa dell uva bardolino on lake garda (wine festival on lake first weekend october) loved it
sagre delle fragole: sweet strawberry festival in nemi (30 minute train ride from rome to frascati) first weekend of june
italymagazine.com/ lake nemi and it's wild berry
older article but lots of info about area
francetravelplanner.com/ retour des alpages annecy france
return of the animals from summer months in mountains to keep warm in town winter
lac-annecy.com/ retour des alpages annecy
so many other fun festivals if you are interested. enjoy & have fun
aloha

My one shot at Luminaria I waited for a bus to the train station in Salerno for 30 min that never showed.....I RAN to the station and saw my friends on the train as it left.....SO SAD.....I really wanna go!

Getting around Lucca: I highly suggest avoiding using a car to get to Lucca on special occasions such as this

forget the car, take the train with no stress and headaches. go for it, you'll regret later. you are so close

My original plan would have been to take the train but there aren't any return trains from Lucca after midnight - I think they start again around 6am. So we would have to book a stay in Lucca for what I was considering a day-trip event.

Thank you!

Thanks for posting this, Exley! I am planning now to attend it in 2026 while in Italy, along with the RS Prague/Budapest tour during that trip. I found a nice, small hotel in a central location & have it booked.

I read in an article that you need to be dressed in medieval costume to attend some of the activities. Did you find that to be true? I pack very light…. ; )