Ravenna Events

Ravenna’s year is anchored by a summer arts festival and by the anniversaries of the man buried in the middle of town.

The Ravenna Festival, June and July

Several weeks of opera, orchestral and choral music, staged partly inside the basilicas themselves. Performing early music and contemporary work in sixth-century buildings is the founding idea, and it draws international conductors and audiences.

Dante’s anniversary, September

The poet died on the night of 13-14 September 1321, and the date is marked with readings, a procession and the annual ceremony in which oil from Florence is used to refill the lamp at the tomb. September is Dante month across the city.

Sant’Apollinare, 23 July

The city’s first bishop and patron, celebrated at the basilica at Classe that carries his name — a service in a building standing alone in a field, which is worth the eight kilometres.

The coastal season

From June the Romagna beaches south and north of the city run a full Italian summer season, with the resorts busy through August and largely shut by October. The historic centre barely notices.

Book ahead for the festival weeks; otherwise Ravenna is an easy city to arrive in.