Carnival 2024 in and around Rome

Here comes the funniest festival of the year, full of pranks, the overturning of rules, masquerades and unbridled joy before the start of Lent and its forty days of penance and purification in anticipation of Easter.

Rome colours itself with masks and confetti, dressing up for the festivities, with many events for the whole family in open-air spaces, cultural venues, theatres, along the Tiber and in some towns on the outskirts of the Capital.

Here is a selection of the events on the programme!

• EVENTS
• THEATRE PERFORMANCES FOR FAMILIES
• CARNIVAL AT THE MUSEI IN COMUNE
• CELEBRATIONS AROUND ROME
• TYPICAL CARNIVAL SWEETS
• HISTORY AND CURIOSITIES

EVENTS

CARNEVALE TIBERINO
By canoe, on foot and by bicycle: on 11 February, Rome has its own carnival parade on the banks of the Tiber, for children, families and sports enthusiasts, to discover the city and its river, participate in a healthy psycho-physical wellness activity in the open air and emphasise the importance, both sporting and tourist, of the quality of the river environment and its waters, even in urban areas. Now in its third edition, the Carnevale Tiberino, in which participation is free, is an opportunity to dress up in the open air and follow a sporting and tourist route along the banks of Rome's beloved river.

LA TARANTELLA DEL CARNEVALE
A big party for young and grown-ups with traditional masks and dancers who, with their overwhelming and dizzying tarantella rhythms, a big concert and a masked parade at 1 p.m., on 11 February, will enliven the open-air spaces of the Auditorium. The protagonists will be a number of traditional groups of Giant Masks with human and animal appearances, which, coming from various regions of Italy, can reach up to three metres in height.

CARNEVALE AT CINECITTA' WORLD
From 3 to 25 February, the Cinema and TV theme park awaits you with masks, parades, floats, costume contests, shows and lots of fun. The park's entrance street becomes a "Carnival Street", where, every hour, cinema and typical Carnival floats parade, in collaboration with the Carnival of Fano. Many new attractions, the Carnival 'Trucca bimbi' (Children's Make-up), the Carmen Live show with godmother Carmen Russo, the 'Sala Giochi della Street' (Street Games Room), and mouth-watering gastronomic offerings dedicated to the recipes of Carnival.

THE ZOOMARINE CARNIVAL
From 3 to 11 February, the large aquatic and amusement park presents a big party dedicated to the most colourful and entertaining time of the year. On the programme a spectacular Confetti Battle, with animators, an interactive themed parade and a children's make-up area. On stage, Voglia di Colori and La Follia del Carnevale, two new shows featuring dancers and acrobats, the Carolina Benvenga show on 11 February and the new Topo Gigio Show. Demonstrations with dolphins, seals, sea lions, tropical birds and paw-paw friends, many attractions and food proposals for a tasty gastronomic break are not to be missed.

CARNIVAL PARTY
On 8, 10 and 13 February, the Municipio III awaits you at the Portici di via Monte Cervialto, the Library Ennio Flaiano and Piazza Sempione for a big feast with live music, jugglers, stilt-walkers and DJ sets, until the final great Mardi Gras parade from Viale Adriatico to Piazza Sempione, to celebrate Carnival together. 

CARNEVALE AT MARCONI
From 8 to 11 February, at the Tevere Marconi Park and the Parish of Saints Aquila and Priscilla, the Carnival event returns in its seventh edition with a parade, carousels, music, masked groups, candyfloss, popcorn, baby dance, fireworks, concerts, dance performances, soap bubbles and theatre, to enjoy together the most cheerful and colourful feast of the year. 

THEATRE SHOWS FOR FAMILIES

CARNEVAL DRAGHI
On 3, 4, 10 and 11 February, the Teatro Mongiovino Accettella presents Carneval Draghi, the story of a professor of 'dragology' who gives a lecture on his dragon friends. Discover the story of Sara, a little girl invited to a Carnival party and her search for a mask in her grandfather's trunk in the attic, princesses, a king's son, a dragon and magic!

LA VERA STORIA DELLA MASCHERA DI ZORRO (THE TRUE STORY OF ZORRO'S MASK)
On Sunday, 4 February, the Tor Bella Monaca Theatre awaits you for La vera storia della maschera di Zorro (The true story of Zorro's mask), the show set at Carnival in Pedro's school. For the masquerade party, he would like to dress up as Spiderman, but his father brings him Zorro's suit, angering him. The night before, the real Zorro appears to the boy, dragging him into a series of extraordinary adventures, making him change his mind about the outlaw hero.

ARLECCHINO E PULCINELLA SULLA LUNA (HARLEQUIN AND PULCINELLA ON THE MOON)
In its playbill dedicated to children and families, the Teatro Pegaso, located in the Lido di Ostia district, proposes Harlequin and Punchinello on the moon, a show featuring two of the most popular Carnival masks, on stage on 28 January and 4 February.

GIÙ LA MASCHERA (OFF WITH THE MASK)
On 3 and 4 February, on stage at the Teatro Kopó, a Carnival tale starring Ginevra and Beatrice, who, with a bit of magic, will have to overcome all their fantasies to succeed in making beautiful costumes for the contest for the most stunning mask.

OGNI SCHERZO VALE (EVERY JOKE COUNTS)
On 3 February, Teatro Trastevere presents a surprising show with lots of jokes and funny characters that involve children in extraordinary adventures. Entrance reserved for members.

CARNIVAL AT THE MUSEI IN COMUNE

CARNEVALE...A REGOLA D’ARTE!
From 10 to 13 February, the Musei in Comune network will be celebrating the craziest and most carefree feast of the year with “Carnevale...a regola d’arte!” and the many activities designed specifically for children, to have fun and discover the city’s cultural heritage together, at the Museo di scultura antica Giovanni Barracco, the Museo della Repubblica Romana e memoria garibaldina, the Museo civico di Zoologia, the Museo delle Mura, the Museo di Roma in Trastevere and the Museo di Casal de’ Pazzi. At the Museo di Roma a Palazzo Braschi small masked visitors are welcome and, together with adults, they will be invited to “step into the shoes” of the protagonists of a royal feast!

CARNEVALE IN MUSEO: SCIENZIATI IN MASCHERA
On 10 February, the exciting event returns to the Civic Museum of Zoology to celebrate Carnival with an evening itinerant museum path in a playful way: kids aged between 7 and 12, in teams of a maximum of 12 participants, are involved in puzzles, skill tests and cooperative games based on science, the Museum's scientists, zoology and ecology. Booking is required.

CELEBRATIONS AROUND ROME

CARNIVAL OF FRASCATI 2024
The city on the slopes of Monte Tuscolo hosts one of the most eagerly awaited and beloved carnival events in the Castelli Romani. From 28 January to 13 February, Frascati comes alive with the traditional handing over of the keys of the city to the king of carnival, the 'Re Pupone', live music, fancy dress parades, DJ sets, street parties for grown-ups and children, food stalls and a majestic Ferris wheel, with views from the historic villas up to Rome.

THE TIBURTINO CARNIVAL
The traditional Carnival of ancient and enchanting Tivoli is back, involving the city centre, Villa Adriana, Campolimpido and Tivoli Terme with flag-wavers, live music, a photo exhibition, parades of floats with majorettes and a band, shows and masked groups. The festivities open on 27 and 28 January, then continue the two following weekends and conclude on Tuesday 13 February with the big party in Piazza Garibaldi, with masks, soap bubbles, street artists and the burning of the Carnival King.

CARNEVALE A MARE AT FIUMICINO
On foot, by bike, motorbike or with floats, on Sunday, 11 February, Fiumicino celebrates the Carnevale a Mare (Carnival at Sea) that has been held in the pleasant town for a good 34 years. The notes of the marching bands and the hilarious confetti-shooting machine will accompany a colourful procession of masks along the streets of the historic centre, and Via della Torre Clementina, in the stretch between Palazzo Noccioli and Piazza G.B. Grassi, will be transformed into one big show made up of parades, dances, games, and entertainment for the little ones under the watchful eye of Saltafiume, the symbol of Fiumicino Carnival and the true mascot of the festival! Space also for food, with delicious typical gastronomic products, and artisan handicrafts.

CARNIVAL OF MACCARESE AND FREGENE
The first edition of the "Carnevale di Maccarese" will take place on 28 January at 2.30 pm in the town of Maccarese. On the programme, a parade of allegorical floats, stilt walkers, majorettes, the 'Flag-wavers of Vignanello', magic shows, street bands, children's entertainment, and vintage motorbikes. The three most beautiful floats and the best mask will be awarded with prizes.
On 4 February, instead, the 'Carnival Parade' of traditional floats, as well as a mask contest, will be held in Fregene, starting at 2.30 pm from Viale Castellammare.

CARNEVALE POPOLARE VELITERNO 2024 (VELLETRI CARNIVAL)
The Carnival of the splendid town of the Castelli Romani will begin on Sunday 28 January and end with Mardi Gras on 13 February. On 28 January, 4 February, 11 February and 13 February, the streets of the old town centre will come alive with the parades of five colourful allegorical floats and masked groups, and Gurgumiello, the friendly mask symbol and undisputed mascot of the Veliterno Carnival, will roam its streets. Not to be missed: the Festa dei Bambini (Children's Festival) on 8 February, on Shrove Thursday, and the Festa dei Nonni (Grandparents' Festival) on 10 February.

TYPICAL CARNIVAL SWEETS

TRADITIONAL RECIPES OF THE ROMAN CARNIVAL
The delicious 'carnival caprices' that are impossible to resist during the most joyous feast of the year: Roman-style castagnole, fried and sugar-coated or filled with cream, Ricotta cheese or chocolate; bocconotti, short pastry cakes filled with Ricotta cheese, cinnamon and candied fruit; Frappe, crumbly, thin pastries dusted with icing sugar, to be enjoyed during a coffee break, as a snack or at the end of a meal.

HISTORY AND CURIOSITIES

THE ANCIENT ROMAN CARNIVAL
All the curiosities linked to the origins of the most cheerful and transgressive festival: from the ancient saturnalia to the 'ludi carnevalari' of the Middle Ages, to what was, in the past, one of the most opulent and colossal events in history, which, with processions, parades, dances, shows and sumptuous public banquets, involved the people, the aristocracy and some of the most famous artists and travellers visiting Rome.

*The programme is constantly being updated. Events may be subject to change; please consult the official websites.