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Italy is celebrating the 150th anniversary of its unification on Thursday March 17th and it has finally been announced that that day will definitely be a national holiday. Events are planned across the country for the day including free admission to many museums and monuments nationwide. Some cities are participating in the festivities more than others so the best spots to be in come Thursday will be Turin, – the country’s first official capital city – Florence and Rome. Here is a round-up of the key events lined up to celebrate Italy’s 150th birthday.
Rome
Despite the fact that Rome was not part of the reunification at the time, birthday celebrations in Rome will be going full swing, kicking off a day early on Wednesday March 16th (that’s tomorrow) with a fireworks display by the river Tiber in the evening. Across the city that evening and the next day – Thursday March 17th – there will be street performers, acrobats, entertainment for kids and general merriment across the city. A handful of smaller scale events are expected around the city although there is very little in the way of official information.
Your best bet is to take the morning to do a free tour of some of the museums and then spend the evening sitting over a big dinner near one of the piazzas. With Thursday a national holiday, the city will be buzzing from Wednesday so visit some of the busier outdoor venues and you are sure to stumble upon an event or two.
Turin
Opening around March 17th and running for months after in many cases, the Officine Grandi Riparazioni at Corso Castelfidardo 22 in Turin will be running a series of exhibitions about Italy past present and future. The two major exhibits that will be showing in Turin are Beautiful Italy – featuring over 350 works by some of the country’s most famous artists – and Making the Italians which showcases 150 years of history with a heavy emphasis on the personalities that defined it. Turin will also be launching a series of four new operas running from March 15th. For more information about events in Turin click here.
Florence
Like many cities across the country, Florence will feature a good selection of free museums on March 17th and general merriment in the streets. While there is very little officially organised, it is expected that there will be street performers and entertainers amusing crowds across the city from Wednesday 16th. To increase energy in the beautiful city, flags have been hung in public areas.
Milan
The main event in Milan will be the free concert taking place in Palazzo Marino from 17.15PM to 18.00PM. It too will have street performers and impromptu entertainment across the city. |