Best events and things to do in Rome this summer.

Rome gets ready to host a multitude of summer festivals and open-air cultural events, including film screenings, live music and opera under the stars. Here's a quick guide to the best events happening in the Eternal City over summer 2024.

Opera

Rome's summer opera festival returns to the ruins at the Baths of Caracalla, with opera classics including Tosca and Turandot as well as dance performances and concerts by rock and pop singers.

Literature

An international literature festival takes place over five evenings in July in the spectacular setting of the Palatine Hill with award-winning writers reading from texts written specially for the occasion.

Rome hosts the 15th edition of the Festival della Letteratura di Viaggio, dedicated to travel literature, at Palazzetto Mattei and the gardens of Villa Celimontana from 19-23 June.

Cinema

Open-air film festivals include Cinema in Piazza, held in Piazza S. Cosimato and two other locations in the suburbs, showing films in their original language versions and hosting special guests from the world of cinema.

Other neighbourhood film festivals include Notti di cinema in Piazza Vittorio, Arena Garbatella and Cinevillage Monteverde, with outdoor screenings also taking place at Casa del Cinema in Villa Borghese.

Also making a return this summer is Roma Cinema Arena, the large 1,000-seat open-air theater at the Parco degli Acquedotti, from 4-25 July.

Rock and pop

Rome serves up an eclectic selection of rock and pop concerts during July thanks to the city's two main live music festivals, Roma Summer Fest at the Auditorium Parco della Musica - with a diverse line-up including Take That, Glen Hansard and Ludovico Einaudi - and Rock in Roma at the Ippodromo delle Capannelle - with acts ranging from Geolier and Placebo to Bruce Dickinson and Deep Purple.

Russell Crowe and his band are set to play three concerts in Rome in June, including in the shadow of the Colosseum, while in July the Stadio Olimpico hosts four sold-out shows by Coldplay. The Teatro Romano in Ostia Antica will stage a series of summer concerts, dance performances and stand-up comedy, with a series of concerts also taking place as part of the Villa Ada Festival.

Free concerts

The city hosts Summer Hits, a series of free concerts for young people, taking in Piazza del Popolo over four nights from 11-14 June, and La Prima Festa at the Capannelle on 16 June. A free music festival will also take place at the Temple of Venus and Rome near the Colosseum from 19-23 June.

Jazz

Jazz fans can enjoy outdoor performances by Italian and international jazz musicians at the Casa del Jazz, as well as nightly jazz and swing concerts in the park at Villa Celimontana.

Classical

The Rome Chamber Music Festival with Robert McDuffie returns to Teatro Argentina from 17-20 June. Classical music concerts will take place against the lush backdrop of Rome's Botanic Gardens from 11 June-25 July, with the Istituzione Universitaria dei Concerti, and at the Theatre of Marcellus as part of the annual Concerti del Tempietto programme.

The Accademia Filarmonica Romana hosts its summer music festival in its beautiful gardens from 21 June until 4 July. The concerts will feature classical music from various eras, from the Baroque and the 20th century up to the contemporary and modern repertoire, with forays into film music, jazz, pop and the avant-garde.

Museums

Rome's national and city-run museums open their doors free of charge on the first Sunday of each month, with the next two appointments falling on 7 July and 4 August.

Some of the popular summer exhibitions include A Beautiful World by Mario Testino at Palazzo Bonaparte; Filippo and Filippino Lippi at the Capitoline Museums; and an exhibition at the Ara Pacis dedicated to the world of theatre in ancient Roman times.

Forma Urbis

A novelty on Rome's cultural circuit this summer is the Forma Urbis Museum in the archaeological park on the Caelian hill, which houses the remaining fragments of the Forma Urbis Romae, the giant marble map of ancient Rome.

Audiovisual

Videocittà, the festival exploring the most advanced forms of audiovisual and digital art, will be held at the Gazometro in Ostiense from 5 to 7 July. The festival comprises three days of video art, talks, live music, dj sets, videomapping and performances by leading audiovisual artists.

Viaggio nel Foro

Ancient Rome comes to life thanks to the Viaggio nel Foro project, a multimedia display screened at the Forum of Caesar every night until 22 September.

Religion

Last but not least, the city lays on some impressive religious pageantry over the summer. The Festa de' Noantri procession sees a bejewelled statue of the Madonna paraded through Trastevere on 20 July, returning by boat along the river Tiber nine days later.

However the most unusual religious event involves a snowfall during the height of summer outside the Basilica di S. Maria Maggiore. On the night of 5 August the city relives a fourth-century miracle with the surreal spectacle of snow-like foam falling from the sky, accompanied with live music by the Carabinieri band.

For more details of events see our What's On in Rome guide while for information about the city's Estate Roma programme see website.

We will update this guide regularly over the summer as more events are announced.