Italy:” What’s happening in Rome on New Year’s Eve?

Rome: Italy will be in a ‘red zone’ on 31 December 2020 and 1 January 2021, effectively placing the entire country under lockdown during the biggest party night of the year.

Parties and travel are banned, and anybody out on the street will need to carry a self-declaration form stating their “urgent or necessary” reason to be outdoors.

In addition there is a nationwide curfew, beginning at 22.00 and extended an extra two hours on 1 January until 07.00.

Rome will continue with its New Year celebrations, which take place as usual in the Circus Maximus, but minus the crowds.

The online event, entitled Oltre Tutto, kicks off at 22.00 on 31 December and can be viewed from home via the culture.roma.it website and on the Culture Roma Facebook page.

Among the stars performing at the Rome concert will be Gianna Nannini, who will perform live, along with pre-recorded contributions from Diodato, Elodie, Manuel Agnelli, Gemitaiz, Carl Brave and violinist Rodrigo D’Erasmo.

Rome’s opera house, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, streams its season opening performance of Il Barbiere di Siviglia, conducted by Daniele Gatti, at 21.15 on 31 December.

In recent years the capital has banned the private use of fireworks on New Year’s Eve, with the mayor usually issuing the order at the last minute. There is no reason to expect things will be different this year but we will update this article if and when a firework ban is announced.

The traditional Italian New Year’s Eve meal consists of cotechino (a product similar to salami), zampone (stuffed pig’s trotter), and lentils which are meant to bring luck for the coming year, all of which is washed down with a glass or two of prosecco or spumante.

A well-known but almost extinct tradition (in Rome at least) associated with capodanno involves people throwing old objects out the window, symbolising their readiness to welcome in the new year.