La Bella Vita: How much Italian you really need and this month's best events in Italy

Miranda Mullings - news@thelocal.it

Published: 4 Sep, 2026 CET. Updated: Fri 4 Sep 2026 13:44 CET

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From being ready for this month’s biggest events to knowing how much Italian language skill is enough for everyday life in Italy, you'll find everything you need to eat, talk, drink and live like an Italian in our weekly newsletter La Bella Vita.

When it comes to the weather, Italy apparently hasn’t gotten the message that summer should be over.

According to forecasts, she’s got one more heatwave in her, which means another week to endure near-40°C temperatures, while all I want to do is wear a sweater and eat something pumpkin-flavoured.

It’s been quite hot this past week – sweat-dripping-down-your-back hot – at least in Rome, and the entire country is going to continue heating up this weekend to unseasonably hot temperatures. Sunday is expected to be the hottest day in many parts, so you’ll want to plan ahead if you have any outdoor plans.

For summer-lovers, that means you’ve got at least one more weekend to enjoy the beach. For the rest of us, it’s one last weekend of sitting under the AC in the semi-darkness.

Thankfully, next week should be a turning point: temperatures are expected to cool off significantly – perhaps even to below the seasonal average – as Italy’s autumn is expected to begin.

One last weekend of summer: Where and when will it be hottest in Italy?

After the lull of summer, when there’s not much to do besides be on the beach or suffer, the turn of September brings a new lineup of things to do this autumn.

The beginning of this month sees the very last days of summer events, like Verona’s open-air opera festival, as a new cultural calendar gets underway with a wide variety of appealing events, whether you’re into literature, modern art, music, wine, philosophy or handicrafts.

This weekend, Venice will be bustling with Sunday’s regata storica (historic rowing race) along with the star-studded Venice Film Festival fully underway. The first Sunday in September is also the annual occasion of the Palio di Asti in Piedmont – one of Italy’s oldest horse races, and a great alternative if you missed the Palio di Siena last month.

What's on in Italy: 19 events not to miss this September

September is Italy’s unofficial New Year in many ways, and not just because it marks a new school year. This time of year has a fresh energy about it as people return from holiday feeling relaxed and ready to be productive, perhaps even setting new goals for the coming months. It’s a popular time to pick up a new hobby, class or activity.

Many foreigners make studying (or rededicating themselves to the study of) Italian a new pastime for the colder months.

Which had us thinking – how good exactly do your Italian language skills need to be to live in Italy?

We wanted to hear readers' thoughts on whether speaking fluent Italian is truly necessary for life here, so we put the question to the country’s international residents in a recent survey.

Almost everyone who responded agreed that learning Italian to some degree is important, though there was a spectrum of opinions on how much you need to know, and interestingly, different reasonings for why you should learn.

'Can't rely on goodwill': The verdict on how well you need to speak Italian in Italy

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Is there an aspect of the Italian way of life you’d like to read more about? Please email us at news@thelocal.it.