fbpx

Lights and Sounds of Naples, Four Days of New Year’s Events

It will be a four-day celebration, from December 29th to January 1st, following the ‘Naples City of Music’ project, catering to both the younger and older generations. The programming is aimed at highlighting various forms of entertainment, particularly musical.

Friday, December 29th

The event calendar kicks off with two moments of solidarity. First, Maestro Carlo Morelli will bring “La musica in carcere” (Music in Prison) with the band performing for the inmates of Poggioreale. The second event is dedicated to young patients at Santobono, who, in the afternoon (3:00 PM), will receive a visit from Mayor Gaetano Manfredi accompanied by artists Lele Blade, Lda, Francesco Cicchella, and Peppe Iodice.

Saturday, December 30th

Children’s New Year at Maschio Angioino: From 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM, the castle will transform into a magical place for children with games, shows, and entertainment. In Piazza Plebiscito, starting at 8:00 PM, the focus will be on urban and rap music with various artists from the Neapolitan scene and beyond. The evening will open with the winners of the “Young Promises of City of Music” contest selected by a distinguished jury composed of Geolier, Luchè, and Chiummariello. Performances will include Plug, Lele Blade, MV Killa, Yung Snapp, Niko Beatz, Enzo Dong, NTO, Coco, LDA, Vale Lambo, Andrea Settembre, and closing the concert, the lady of Italian rap, Rose Villain, one of the protagonists of the upcoming Sanremo.

Sunday, December 31st

A grand show in Piazza Plebiscito awaits the midnight toast with the participation of many artists, comedians, and singers. Starting at 9:00 PM, on stage, Enzo Avitabile and i Bottari, The Kolors, Francesco Cicchella, Arisa, and Jimmy Sax will perform in an evening hosted by Peppe Iodice, Francesco Mastandrea, Francesco Procopio, and Daniele Decibel Bellini. Other great figures from the entertainment world, such as Gabriele Esposito, Erminio Sinni, and Ciro Giustiniani, will also warm up the audience. Young emerging comedians from a contest will also perform on stage.

December 31, 2023, from 11:30 PM to 6:00 AM ‘Naples changes track’:

At Colonna Spezzata in Piazza Vittoria, the new year will be celebrated with HISTORY 90+, an irresistible format launched by Drop dedicated to the fabulous 90s, featuring the unmistakable radio style of DJ Cerchietto and DJ sets by Danilo De Santo and Irene Ferrara, followed by vocalist Goldie Voice.

On the stage at Rotonda Diaz, the dance floor will be animated by the new generation of the Neapolitan club culture in collaboration with musical collectives Drop, Soul Express, and Bang! The protagonists of Nu Disco and Nu Funk made in Naples, including Marvin&Guy, Pellegrino, Fantasie Safari, Mario Bianco & Gabriele Del Prete, Vincenzo Curcio B2B Mugman, and Valerio Viglione, all DJs and musical producers from the Naples metropolitan area, will follow.

Monday, January 1st

At Colonna Spezzata from 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM, NAPOLI JAM SESSION. A concert/event curated by Max Jovine, bassist of 99 Posse, bringing together about thirty authors, artists, and musicians from the new Neapolitan music scene. Starting at 4:00 PM on January 1, 2024, an original and transversal musical blend will merge rhythms, sounds, and various languages produced in recent years under the shadow of Vesuvius. From the N’Arte collective band to Maestro Giuseppe Spinelli’s band, which will accompany the live performances of fifteen special guests: 1. Andrea Tartaglia; 2. Balbusea; 3. Veronica Simioli; 4. Antonio Marino; 5. N’Arte Collective; 6. Dario Sansone; 7. Francesco Di Bella; 8. Greg Rega; 9. Helen Tesfazghi; 10. Jovine; 11. Peppoh; 12. Simona Boo; 13. Zulù; 14. Fabiana Martone; 15. Vesuviano.

At the Basilica di San Domenico Maggiore, at 6:00 PM, the new year will begin with the traditional classical music concert paying tribute to Maestro Roberto De Simone ‘Natale a Napoli alla Corte di Carlo di Borbone’ (Christmas in Naples at the Court of Carlo di Borbone). The orchestra La Nuova Polifonia, conducted by Alessandro De Simone, and the vocal ensemble Ensemble Vocale di Napoli will perform the Christmas Motet “Quem vidistis pastores?” brought to light by Maestro Roberto De Simone. A Christmas musical moment that Naples has never given up since 1737, in the splendid setting of San Domenico Maggiore, and an important event not only for promoting local traditions but also for the history of European music and culture.

New Year’s Eve 2023, what to do in Naples: scheduled events and parties

The unmissable concert in Piazza Plebiscito, but also theater, music and art, there are so many opportunities to celebrate the new year in Naples.

The traditional New Year’s concert
The traditional New Year’s concert will be held in Piazza del Plebiscito from 9.30 pm until the stroke of midnight. Peppe Iodice was present followed by Peppino Di Capri, Lina Sastri and Franco Ricciardi. After the midnight toast there will be a Dj set on the seafront in via Caracciolo.

Tribute to Pino Daniele
On December 29th at the Galleria Umberto I there will be a tribute to the great artist Pino Daniele, by his son Alex Daniele, with audiovisual installations and performances by emerging artists who will interpret the songs from the album Nero a Metà. The same evening the National Prize of the arts will be awarded with the Italian Conservatories and Academy of Fine Arts.

Street artists in the city
On 30 and 31 December, numerous events will be held in the city with street artists, performing arts, music performances and acting. The Rkomi concert is scheduled for Friday 30, while on the 31st, at the Palavesuvio in Ponticelli, the Scarlatti Young orchestra will perform.

Don Juan in Soho at the Bellini Theater
Don Juan in Soho will be staged at the Bellini theater on December 31st. The comedy traces the life of an unscrupulous DJ who grew up in the Soho district. The event is scheduled to start at 9pm.

Fireworks
The real protagonists after midnight will be the traditional fireworks at Castel dell’Ovo. The evocative show usually begins around 01:30 and ends half an hour later, at 02:00, as always leaving the thousands of people who will watch from the Lungomare or from other higher up locations.

Christmas in Naples at the Court of Charles of Bourbon
On January 1, a show curated by Maestro Roberto De Simone will be held to begin the year in which the extraordinary composer’s 90th birthday falls in his name. Scheduled in the Basilica of San Domenico Maggiore at 17.30.

Check official website here!

New Year’s in Naples: what to do and where to go to toast the new year

Celebrate the new year and start off on the right foot: here are some original ideas to toast the new year in the Neapolitan city.

New Year’s Eve in Naples: a whole party

In Naples, the New Year is a big outdoor party. On the streets of the center, in Piazza del Plebiscito, where the concert is held and at midnight on the 31st street towards Castel dell’Ovo to greet the new year with a incredible fireworks.

The party continues, until dawn the following day, on the Naples seafront, from Mergellina to Borgo Marinari where five stages will be set up between via Caracciolo and via Partenope which will host artists, bands and discos in the open.

At the Rotonda Diaz instead there will be the traditional appointment with the daredevils who will dive into the waters of the Gulf to greet the new year.

A must for those who want to spend it in a club on the 31st is Arenile di Bagnoli: here every year the Neapolitan New Year is celebrated with an unforgettable party.

For a dinner party, the board is the Posillipo Theater which organizes a dinner and disco after midnight.

The alternative to dinners and parties is the San Carlo Theater with the wonderful performance of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker.

Paul McCartney’s Freshen Up Tour Heads to Napoli!

THE ‘FRESHEN UP’ TOUR 2020
Paul announces live shows for 2020 as his highly acclaimed and unmissable Freshen Up tour prepares to take to the road again

10th June – Piazza Plebiscito, Naples, Italy

Having wrapped up the most recent leg of the tour with a sold-out show at Los Angeles Dodger Stadium in July, Paul has already performed 39 huge shows across 12 different countries since he launched the Freshen Up global tour.  Winning five-star reviews from critics and fans alike all over the world, the Freshen Up tour which draws in crowds of all ages and backgrounds, showcases Paul’s unparalleled career as both a phenomenal songwriter and performer that confirm his universal appeal. 

With songs like ‘Hey Jude’, ‘Live and Let Die’, ‘Band on the Run’ and  ‘Let It Be’ the Paul McCartney live experience is everything any music lover could ever want from a rock show: Nearly three hours of the greatest moments from the last 50 years of music, dozens of songs from Paul’s solo, Wings and of course Beatles catalogues that have formed the soundtracks of our lives.  Paul and his band have performed in an unparalleled range of venues and locations throughout the Americas, the UK, Europe, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and all points between: outside the Coliseum in Rome, Moscow’s Red Square, Buckingham Palace, The White House, a free show in Mexico for over 400,000 people, the last ever show at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park where The Beatles played their final concert in 1966, a 2016 week in the California desert that included two headline sets at the historic Desert Trip festival and a jam-packed club gig  for a few hundred lucky fans at Pappy & Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace, and even one performance broadcast live into Space! Featuring Paul’s band of the last 15+ years – Paul “Wix” Wickens (keyboards), Brian Ray (bass/guitar), Rusty Anderson (guitar) and Abe Laboriel Jr (drums) – and constantly upgraded state of the art audio and video technology that ensures an unforgettable experience from every seat in the house, a Paul McCartney concert is never anything short of life-changing.

Pre-sale Information 
Pre-sale tickets will be available to purchase for the above Italy shows from 10am local time on Friday 22nd November. To purchase pre-sale tickets, click the link below and enter the password: 

10th June @ Piazza Plebiscito Naples 
GET PRE-SALE TICKETS HERE! / PASSWORD: FRESHENUPNAPOLI

Pizza Village 2019: the pizza festival in Naples

Napoli Pizza Village now in its ninth edition in 2019, returns to the Via Caracciolo waterfront.

The Napoli Pizza Village 2019, after a record edition held last year which counted 1,047,000 presences with over 122,000 pizzas baked by the 50 pizzerias present, will be held from 13 to 22 September, every evening from 6pm to midnight.

Napoli Pizza Village , which also held a stop abroad in October, more precisely in New York City in the United States of America, is a popular festival that aspires to represent an effective moment of global promotion of the territory through one of the symbols par excellence of Italy in the world: pizza.

The 30 thousand square meter village provides for the presence of 50 of the most famous pizzerias and hundreds of pizza makers from all over the world, ready to churn out over 100 thousand pizzas over 10 days.

Access to the Napoli Pizza Village 2019 area is free, as are the events included on the billboard.
In every evening starting from 21.30 live concerts are scheduled:
14 September Arisa / 15 September Achille Lauro / 17 September E. Bennato – C. Malgioglio / 18 September Dolcenera / 19 September Boomdabash / 20 September E. Nigiotti – Bianca Atzei / 21 September Mahmood / 22 September Anastasio.

Do not miss pizza classes for adults and other events, such as the prestigious World Championship of Pizzaiuolo – Trophy Caputo.

Who wants can buy the menu ticket online or directly at the box office: the ticket, at a cost of 12 euros, includes the possibility of choosing the pizzeria where you can taste pizza and soft drink, including dessert and coffee. For celiacs there is a stand with Gluten Free products set up in the center of the village, in Rotonda Diaz. It is possible to compose a real menu for celiacs including pizza, beer and gluten-free desserts, without any price change.

For the little ones there is NPV Kids, an educational path that will allow children to discover the history of pizza margherita and learn about the nutritional properties of pizza and its role in the Mediterranean Diet. The young aspiring pizza chefs, moreover, will be able to participate in amusing laboratories in which it will be possible to learn how to realize an authentic Neapolitan pizza, under the guide of a Neapolitan Master Pizzaiolo.

More information on the official website.

Over 100 Ferrari from all over the world in Campania

More than 100 Ferrari from all over the world will meet in Campania for the eighth edition of the Ferrari Cavalcade.
The event offers Ferrari customers unique driving experiences, along fascinating routes that allow you to fully appreciate the performance of the contemporary cars of the Cavallino.

Over 200 collectors and enthusiasts crews from more than 20 countries around the world, with a large representation of Europe, the United States, the Middle East, and with numerous participants from the Far East, New Zealand and Australia. Numbers that reflect the boundless attraction of the Maranello brand.

This international parterre awaits a journey full of surprises and a variety of landscapes that only the Campania region can offer. At the wheel of their Ferrari, participants will be able to explore the wonderful views of the Amalfi coast and the Campania hinterland, from the Parco del Partenio to the slopes of Vesuvius.

The tour will begin on Tuesday 18th June with a visit to the city of Benevento, where the Ferrari can be admired in Corso Garibaldi from 1 pm. The following day from 1.30 pm the cars will be available on the Salerno seafront, before going along the bends from Amalfi to Sorrento, where they are expected in Corso Italia from 7.00 pm. On June 20th, the Royal Palace of Caserta will be the setting for the Cavalcade, in front of which the models of the Cavallino Rampante will line up around 10:30 am, and the center of Naples, with a stop in Piazza del Plebiscito from 2.30 pm. The fourth last day of the tour, Friday 21st, will be dedicated to one of the jewels of the Gulf, with a parade of cars from Capri to Anacapri at 7:00 pm.

An exceptional program and a great show not only for Ferrari owners but for all citizens and tourists, which binds the most famous car manufacturer in the world to these places symbol of Italian beauty.
“We want to bring the Ferrari brand closer to the beauty of Campania – said Alessandro Cellamare, head of Ferrari events – It will be an opportunity for our customers to see territories they would not have visited. It is not just a Ferrari event, but of the territory. A convoy that moves every day in Campania and that, on average, will cover 800 kilometers every day “.

April 1st and Chocolate Fish in Napoli ~ no joke!

We’re all being careful not to fall for any April Fool’s jokes today – and there’s no escape from the pranksters’ favourite day of the year in Italy. Here, it just has a cuter name: April Fish. That comes from a common joke that involves sticking a drawing of a pesciolino (little fish) onto the back of an unsuspecting victim. Then, everyone else asks if anyone has seen “April’s fish” and makes jokes about that person – when, of course, the victim doesn’t know it’s them.

Chocolatiers deliciously get into the spirit with fish-shaped goodies. Schools of fish of all sizes fill shop windows, the larger ones often filled with smaller treats. To a chocoholic, fish never tasted so good! Since Easter usually falls around the same time, fish feature predominantly in shop windows through that holiday as well.
Here would be a good excuse to buy special chocolates on this day over. Not that we ever really need an excuse for chocolate…

Wherever you are, have fun on April 1st and enjoy some chocolate.

In the first week of March, all Italy’s state museums are free

Fancy a few hours in the National Archaeological Museum, a stroll round the Caserta palace or catching the view from the Certosa di San Martino? Next week you can visit them all for free.

Scores of state-owned attractions across Italy will waive their entry fees from March 5-10th as part of an initiative to make the country’s most precious heritage available for free on 20 days each year.

Culture Minister Alberto Bonisoli has declared next Tuesday to Sunday “Museum Week”, meaning that locals and tourists alike have six days to visit some of Italy’s most famous museums, galleries and archaeological sites without paying a cent.

Some of the best-known attractions participating include the Museo e Real bosco di Capodimonte and Palazzo Reale, the ruins of Herculaneum – as well as its treasures in Naples’ Archeological Museum – the Complesso dei Girolamini and all the various villas of the ruins of Pompeii. Find a full list here.

The initiative replaces Italy’s “free museum Sundays”, the scheme that saw museums open for free every first Sunday of the month. Under a new decree that takes effect this week, Italian state museums will instead offer six free Sundays between October and March, eight free days of their choice and six during Museum Week.

Culture Minister Alberto Bonisoli says the new system should help reduce the long queues and oppressive crowds that typically gather at Italy’s most popular attractions every first Sunday of the month. Sites might choose to offer free entry on a weekday afternoon instead of at the weekend, for instance, to help them manage visitor numbers.

In addition, people aged 18-25 will be able to visit state-owned attractions at any time they choose for the reduced price of just €2.

Bonisoli has said that he wants to add even more free days in future, hinting that there could be two Museum Weeks a year from 2020.

The Feast of the Epiphany and Celebration of La Befana

The Feast of the Epiphany is celebrated January 6 with a national holiday in Italy, and the tradition of La Befana are a big part of Italian Christmas celebrations. Epiphany commemorates the 12th day of Christmas when the three Wise Men arrived at the manger bearing gifts for Baby Jesus. The traditional Christmas holiday season in Italy lasts through Epiphany.

Like children around the world, kids in Italy as well, look forward to the arrival of the red-suited Babbo Natale on Christmas Eve.  However, this relatively modern tradition pales in comparison to the anticipation generated by the arrival of an old witch in early January. For Italians, La Festa dell’Epifania on January 6th is as significant a holiday as Christmas Day; especially for Italian children!

According to the Italian legend, La Befana, a witch-like woman riding on a broom, refused to join the Wise Men on their journey to see the baby Jesus. When she regrets her decision, she sets out to bring gifts to the Child but never finds him. Instead, she leaves gifts for other children. Italian children leave out their shoes or put up stockings for the Befana to fill on January 5th, Epiphany Eve.

And the legend continues that every Epiphany Eve, the old, tattered and soot-covered Befana flies around the world on a broomstick and comes down chimneys to deliver candy and presents to children who have been good during the year. For those who have fallen a bit short of model behavior, la Befana will leave lumps of coal.  Knowing that all kids can’t be perfect year-round, some shops in Italy sell carbone or black rock candy that actually looks like pieces of coal… so even those not quite perfect can still enjoy a sweet treat.

Unlike Santa Claus, La Befana has been an Italian tradition since the XIII century and comes from Christian legend rather than pop culture.

The arrival of la Befana is celebrated with traditional Italian foods such as panettone and marks the end of the long and festive holiday season in Italy. In honor of the Three Wise Men, Italians go to church and enjoy spending the day with family.