April 1 – Pasqua, Easter. Celebrations all over the country begin the week prior to Easter and continue through Easter Monday. While the days leading up to Easter include solemn processions and masses, Easter is a joyous celebration marked with rituals and traditions.

April 2 – La Pasquetta, Easter Monday. This national holiday is a day to find many interesting festivals throughout the country. In the Umbrian town of Panicale, cheese is the star. Ruzzolone is played by rolling huge wheels of cheese, weighing about 4 kilos, around the village walls.

April 8 – The Rome Marathon, Rome. The 42km run through the city’s streets begins at the Roman Forum and passes many of Rome’s most famous sites and the Vatican before ending at the Colosseum. Runners from all over the world participate.

April 21 – Rome’s birthday. The date of Rome’s founding (753 B.C.) is celebrated on this day. Festivals, concerts, fireworks over the Tiber River, and gladiator shows around the forum area grace the city.  

April 23 – Saint George’s Day, Caresana, Piedmont region. The Palio dei Buoi is a parade of floats pulled by oxen, as St. George is the patron saint of farm workers.

April 25 – Liberation Day. A national holiday commemorating the end of the Italian Civil War and the end of Nazi occupation of the country during WWII. Concerts, marching bands, food festivals, political rallies, and other public gatherings take place all over Italy.

April 25 – Festival of San Marco, Venice. As the patron saint of Venice, Saint Mark’s Square in the city holds a festival and a procession to the basilica. On this day in Venice, you should give a rose to your loved one.

Food festivals: Sagra (festival) for Carciofi (artichokes) and Asparagi (asparagus) are held in many parts of Italy. One of the best artichoke festivals is in Ladispoli near Rome during the second week of April. The famous white asparagus of Bassano del Grappa in the Verona province gets a week of events near the end of April.