Are you ready? Come to Venice and show ff your best mask!

Carnival 2012 is ready to begin. Tomorrow 4th February many dances, masks, parades and theatre performances will liven up Venice!

This year the theme of the carnival will be the theatre: “Life as a Theatre!”. So, several theatre performances and many more theatre-related initiatives will be held during this carnival edition.

On 4th February, the Great toast at the fountain of wine, and a beautiful theatre performance, “A Venezia la vita è Teatro” (“In Venice, life is theatre”). In addition, skating rinks will be open to the public in Piazza Ferretto and Campo San Paolo in Venice.

On Sunday 12th, there will be the famous and traditional “Angel Flight”, the exciting flight of a secret guest star, who from the top of San Marco bell tower will fly above the square, landing in the centre of the square. He or she will wear an amazing mask in honour of the carnival.

In addition, this year Venice Carnival will celebrate and remember the significance of the environmental protection, thanks to a special initiative by Ecolamp, the cooperative devoted to the separate collection of rubbish and waste disposal.

From 4th to 21st February will mount a stage – “Teatro della Luce e del Riciclo” – in Campo San Paolo, proposing games and shows dedicated to environment.

For more detailed information about Venice please visit the guide About Venice.

Book your hotel in Venice with About Venice!

Find out more about Venice Carnival.

If you want to spend a magic, and unforgettable new year’s eve, at the sound of music, surrounded by magnificent buildings rich of culture Italy is the place to be!
This year 2011, Italy doesn’t miss the change to surprise us another time with events suitable for every age and for every kind of wallet!

Starting from Turin the capital of Piedomont , in Piazza San Carlo from 22:30 to 01:30 , you will have the chance to partecipate to a free concert full of culture and risorgimental spirit.. Renzo Arbore one of the most famous italian musicians, with the help of his orchestra,will make us dream of the past with his music rich of memory and tradition.

On the other hand, Milan with its charming Castello Sforzesco, will be the setting of a celtic celebration. Internationl groups such as the Irish Kila and the Scots Wolfstone, will project us into the world of the scottish Highlands, with its nostalgic but at the same time, full of life ballads.

Liguria gets ready for receiving its thousands visitors with the most beautiful Christmas markets in the large enlightened squares and the most striking villages on the coast.

As usual, Manarola, one of the villages of Cinque Terre, will host its famous luminous nativity scene, the greatest in the world.

From 8th December 2011 to 2nd February 2012 you will have the chance to visit this extraordinary nativity scene set up on the hill Tre Croci: 250 full-size personages will offer a fantastic scenario from the sea and the earth: many little luminous

This year spend your Christmas in Tuscany. You’ll find many events, concerts, initiatives for adults and children, Christmas markets and special festivals in all the cities and villages of the region.

Multicoloured, decorated, enlightened cities. Thousands lights warming city streets, shops windows and children hearts. Shopping, gifts, cards to Santa, Christmas songs and huge Christmas trees located in the largest squares of the cities, such as in Piazza della Repubblica in Florence.

As usual, Florence will welcome you with many amazing Christmas events and traditional handicraft markets. Don’t miss the fabulous Weihnachtsmarkt, the German Christmas market,

If in this period you’re in Milan or you’re planning to spend your Christmas holidays in the capital of fashion and shopping addicts, then now you have three reasons more.

Why? First: Fiera Oh Bej Oh Bej, a typical Milan festival with hundreds of stalls; second: Artigianato in Fiera (Handicrafts and handmade products from all over the world), and third, Fiera del Libro Usato, a market with hundreds stalls selling second-hand books.

Milan is going to celebrate its famous and most loved Fiera degli Oh Bej Oh Bej from 7th to 10th December. A thousand stalls offering

Are you a fan of opera or classical music? Then book your New Year’s Eve concert right now!

It could seem too soon but time is running out and New Year’s Eve is near! Have you already thought about how to spend this magic night?

If you’re planning to spend this New Year’s Eve in Italy, then why not to enjoy a wonderful classical music concert or an opera at theatre? Or maybe, even on the first day of 2012!

For those who wish to end 2011 with the magic notes of The Barber of Seville or start the new year with the emotions raised by famous operas such as Nabucco or Tosca, don’t miss the fabulous concerts

Are you ready for spending a special Christmas in Italy?

If you’re in the neighbourhood of Turin (Northern Region of Piedmont), you will have the opportunity to visit the yearly Christmas Market, which this year will be held in Piazza Borgo Dora from 2nd to 23rd December 2011.

So, come on! Let’s go shopping for this Christmas! Find your Christmas gifts in this striking local market taking place in the “Cortile del Maglio” and Piazza Borgo Dora.

Over 140 exhibitors coming from all Italian regions and abroad,

Tuscany Feast, the yearly event celebrated on 30th November, has been instituted through a regional law in 2000, in order to remember one of the main conquest of mankind in the field of human rights: the abolition of death penalty.

It was the Grand Duke of Tuscany who first abolished death penalty on 30th November 1786 wit Leopold’s reform. He also abolished torture and limbs mutilation, defining such practices barbaric acts.

This initiative made Tuscany the first country in the world to

Everyone knows the so-called “Indian Summer”, a meteorological phenomenon that takes place in Autumn.

It refers to a period of considerably above normal temperatures, accompanied by dry and hazy conditions, usually after there has been a killing frost. Everywhere in the US, this period is more commonly known as the “dog days”.

In former times in Europe, “Indian summer” was called “Saint Martin’s Summer”, referring to St. Martin’s day, November 11th, when it was supposed to end.

The phrase ‘Saint Martin’s Summer’ comes from France where it is still widely used. In Italy, St Martin’s summer (Estate di San Martino) was expected and celebrated as a rural tradition with ancient origins, and

Halloween night is coming!

Get ready for the most frightful night in the year in the best way. Many Italian cities are planning to give parties and masked balls for 31st October to remind macabre atmospheres of ghosts wandering on earth.

This typically American party has become popular in Italy in the last years, with a bigger success every year. Don’t lose the chance to spend this night at best. There are lots of opportunities to spend a mysterious and frightful night both for adults and children, let’s see some!

Milan gets ready for the “witches’ night”