On the agenda: What’s happening in Italy this week

Monday

Nationwide taxi strike

Cab services around the country may be more limited than usual on Monday, March 25th, as taxi drivers represented by Cobas – one of Italy's largest transport unions – plan to strike for a total of 14 hours, from 8am to 10pm.

There were no details immediately available as to how many drivers will participate in the strike, but anyone planning to use taxi services on the day should be prepared to find alternative transportation.

Florentine New Year celebrations

The city of Florence will hold a number of cultural events, including talks, exhibitions and special cultural sites openings, on Monday, March 25th as part of the yearly celebrations for the Florentine New Year (or Capodanno fiorentino in Italian).

Before switching to the Gregorian calendar, which places the first day of the year on January 1st, in 1749, Tuscany’s capital marked the official start of its calendar year on March 25th – the day of the Annunciation of the Lord according to Catholic tradition.

Over the centuries, Florence residents have carried on holding celebrations on March 25th, with the original capodanno being one of the most beloved local events to this very day.

Tuesday

Uffizi holds a special evening opening

Florence’s famous Uffizi Galleries will remain open to visitors until 9.30pm (with last admission at 8.30pm) as opposed to 6.30pm every Tuesday from March 26th to December 17th.

Uffizi director Simone Verde said last week that the initiative’s aim is to help “people who live and work” in the Tuscan city “rediscover their main and most identifying museum”. 

Verde also announced that the museum will introduce a new online ticketing system in May.

Thursday

Easter break for schools

Schools across most of Italy will be closed from Maundy Thursday, falling on March 28th, up to and including Tuesday, April 2nd.

The one exception is the northwestern Aosta Valley region, where pupils are scheduled to return to school on April 2nd – a day earlier than the rest of the country.

Dates may differ for private institutions.

Friday

Good Friday

Via Crucis (‘Way of the Cross’) processions will take place in cities and towns around the country on Friday, March 29th as part of religious celebrations for Good Friday (or Venerdì Santo), which is when Christians commemorate the crucifixion and death of Jesus.

Italy’s most popular Via Crucis procession will take place in Rome on Friday evening, with thousands of people following the Pope from St Peter’s Square to the Colosseum.

Though it is an important date in the Catholic calendar, Good Friday is not a national holiday in Italy, which means you won’t get a day off for it. However, some Italians may decide to fare il ponte and take it off to enjoy a four-day-long weekend.

Sunday

Clocks go forward

Italy will make the switch to Daylight Savings Time (also known as summer time, or ora legale in Italian) in the early hours of Sunday, March 31st. 

Clocks will jump forward by one hour at 2am, meaning a lost hour of sleep that night but one more hour of sunlight from then on.

While the EU voted in 2019 to scrap Daylight Savings Time (DST) by 2021, Covid, Brexit and an intra-EU stalemate all delayed the move, which means the switch will go ahead once again this year for all EU states.

Easter Sunday

Unlike Good Friday, Pasqua, falling on March 31st this year, is a national holiday in Italy, which means that you’ll get a day off for it if you’d normally be working on a Sunday.

READ ALSO: What's open in Italy over Easter weekend?

Cities up and down the country will hold traditional events on the day. For instance, Florence will stage its iconic ‘Cart Explosion’ on Sunday morning, with a two-story wagon packed full of fireworks being lit up in front of the city’s Duomo cathedral.