Pompei Comune Events

The shrine's calendar is the town's calendar. The two great Marian dates are the Supplica alla Madonna di Pompei, prayed on 8 May and on the first Sunday of October — 8 May being the anniversary of the laying of the shrine's cornerstone in 1876. Both fill the piazza and the basilica, and both make the town busy in a way the excavations do not.

2026 is a centenary year. Bartolo Longo died on 5 October 1926 and was canonised on 19 October 2025, so the hundredth anniversary of his death falls in a year when he is newly a saint. Expect a heavier-than-usual programme around early October.

The excavations run their own events. The Parco Archeologico programmes exhibitions and evening openings, and admission to the site is free every first Sunday of the month — which is also, predictably, the busiest day to attempt it.