What to do on New Year's Eve in Italy: map of concerts and events that might surprise you
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There are many New Year's concerts in Italy which bring the main Italian squares to life with music and colorful fireworks. And that's not all: between music, street parties and traditional events, the Italian schedule to welcome the new year is always very rich and varied.
To best enjoy New Year's Eve in Italy, here is a map of some of the most unique experiences to do. Even last minute.
The "procession of the old year" in Appignano del Tronto
The historic center of Appignano del Tronto in the Marche region, every year, on the 30th and 31st of December, becomes the scene of an event that has become a real tradition: the Procession of the old year.
It is a truly surreal event to celebrate the New Year, a celebratory funeral of the defunct year, to joyfully welcome the birth of the new one.
On December 30th you will be able to participate in the Funeral Vigil, amidst shows, magic and superstition, delirium and light-heartedness, and also delicious tastings, culminating in a moving embrace in the Ardent Chamber.
On December 31st, you can join the Goliardic funeral Procession, which mixes the sacred and the profane, with grotesque characters and costumes that symbolize the 12 months of the year and parade through the streets of the town showing off faded garlands and reciting archaic litanies.
On the sidelines, the wind band play ironic funereal melancholic music. In the main square of Appignano del Tronto, the large coffin of the Old Year is burnt at the stroke of midnight.
The Future Days Fest in Pescara based on the future and science fiction
Pescara never disappoints, even on New Year's Eve. For 2023 it is staging the Future Days Fest, a futuristic festival dedicated to science fiction, held in the streets of the center. To greet the old year and welcome the new, three days full of events await you, with film reviews, robotics workshops, multimedia laboratories and video-mapping on the buildings.
Wandering through the streets of the city, you can visit the characteristic markets, and if you are traveling with children, you can take them to the Christmas Village near the station, created especially for them. Finally, everyone to Piazza della Rinascita for the usual end-of-year concert, in the company of great artists and DJ sets until dawn. This year the band Gli Stadio will take to the stage.
The Diffused New Year of L'Aquila and Cagliari
L'Aquila organizes a so-called diffused New Year's Eve, a format also applied in Cagliari.
As can be guessed, the wait for the new year is not established in one precise place, but extends to all the most famous areas, which become venues for events, parties and concerts.
In L’Aquila the Abruzzo capital, Piazza Chiarino is completely dedicated as a children's New Year's Eve area, and for 2023 there will also be an event organized inside the Castle Park. Also in L'Aquila, in the arcades of San Bernardino, a Latin American party will be held. For those who would like a dinner, entertainment, DJ set, open bar and overnight stay formula, there are many places: such as the Papal mansion in the splendid setting of the Salone dei Granai. There is also Piazza Duomo, with the great concert that accompanies the public until the stroke of midnight.
In Cagliari, on the other hand, the focal point will be the party in Piazza Yenne: here, on the Torre dell'Elefante, video installations will be arranged, which will project films themed Il Tempo della Torre. In Piazza Savoia you will be welcomed by a jazz quartet and a video installation of light and sound. Even at the Santa Croce Bastion there will be lots of music and you can admire installations that have the Sardinian capital as a focal point, showing its historical-architectural treasures.
The first dawn of the new year at the Punta Palascia lighthouse
If you have a romantic soul, there is only one place to go on New Year's Eve: the Punta Palascia lighthouse, in Otranto.
In 2000, the easternmost end of the entire peninsula became "famous", because it was chosen to watch the first sunrise of the third millennium.
Since then, every December 31st, the lighthouse is filled with tourists ready to brave the bad weather, because it's impossible to not see the first sun, full of promises and expectations.
A New Year's dip in the Strait is inevitable in Calabria
The more adventurous folk might celebrate the arrival of 2023 with the typical Calabrian tradition: a New Year's dip in the Strait. Every year, on January 1st, dozens of people gather at the Lido Comunale di Zerbi in Reggio Calabria and brave the low temperatures of the Ionian Sea with a group swim. You’ll be mesmerized by the beauty of the snow topped Etna in the background of the Sicilian coast.
If the mere thought of immersing yourself in the icy waters of the sea makes you shiver, you can stop off in Piazza Duomo. Let yourself be entertained by the pop and international music of the many artists who will perform on stage, set up at the foot of the majestic cathedral for the New Year's concert. You can also visit the local Christmas market stalls also in the square.
