Carnival season returns to Rome from 20-25 February.

Rome celebrates Carnevale with around 100 events between 20 and 25 February.

The six-day festival, whose theme is Carnevale in città, will feature parades, theatre, live music, films, guided tours and workshops.

Highlights of this year's Carnevale in Rome will be Ambrogio Sparagna’s tarantella, with the musicians and dancers of the Orchestra Popolare Italiana crossing the Foro Italico on 22 February; and a masked musical parade in the outdoor spaces of the Auditorium Parco della Musica on 23 February.

Events for children will be central to Rome's Carnevale, with activities including animated readings in libraries and free mask-making workshops in museums.

A highlight of this year's programme for adults will be a late-night masked and costumed event at Teatro India which hosts the DJ and VJ set Mutati si balla.

Rome's city-run museums, including the jewel in the municipal museum circuit - the Capitoline Museums - will be open for free on 25 February, Shrove Tuesday, known in Italian as martedì grasso.

The initiative includes temporary exhibitions at city museums, with the exception of Canova: Eterna Bellezza at  Palazzo Braschi and C’era una volta Sergio Leone at the Ara Pacis, while the Palazzo delle Esposizioni offers reduced entry to the exhibitions Gabriele Basilico: Metropoli and Jim Dine from 20-25 February.

Traditionally carnival is the period of fun and festivities preceding the 40 days of fasting and prayer that Christians observe during Lent, which begins this year on 26 February, with Ash Wednesday, and ends with Easter Sunday on 12 April.

For insights into the origins of Carnevale in Rome see our guide to the colourful history of Carnevale Romano, while to indulge in Roman treats for Carnevale try sugar-dusted frappe and castagnole.

Those who wish to take a carnival-themed trip should definitely consider heading to Venice for the ultimate Carnevale experience.

For full details of Rome's Carnvale programme see city website.