Tivoli Events

Tivoli’s calendar is small and local, which is a fair reflection of a town whose main business is two archaeological sites.

The Inchinata, 15 August

An unusual and very old ceremony on the feast of the Assumption: an image of Christ is carried through the town at night to meet an image of the Virgin, and the two are bowed to each other — the inchinata, the bowing — before being taken to the cathedral. It is documented from the medieval period and is entirely a townspeople’s occasion.

The pizzutello festival, September

Built around the local pointed table grape, which is grown here and almost nowhere else. Stalls, a procession and a good deal of grape; it is small and unglamorous and belongs to the town.

Summer evenings at the villas

Both Villa d’Este and Villa Adriana run extended evening openings and concert programmes through the summer, when the gardens are lit and the temperature is bearable. These are the best hours to see either and the schedule changes year to year.

The olive harvest

From late October into November the mills in the hills behind the town are running, and the new oil is sold locally. It is a working season rather than an event, and it is when the countryside here is most itself.

Accommodation is rarely a problem in Tivoli; the constraint is site opening hours, which shorten considerably in winter.