Rome in October, a month of unmissable events and visit opportunities. Find out what to do from 1 to 31 October 2025 and follow the suggestions thought up by our editorial staff to experience and admire the city, including along less beaten paths.
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Roma Live events in October
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New entries and special events in October
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Rome free/low cost in October
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Jubilee 2025: the events in October
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Rome with kids in October
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The days of Rome: key dates in the city’s history and traditions in October
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The many facets of Rome: places of the ancient Rome, papal Rome and modern Rome to (re)discover in October
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Itineraries and curiosities: our tips for October
Roma Live events
Roma Live is the calendar for experiencing Rome at 360°, a multimedia container dedicated to unmissable events for those living in the city and for tourists. Check here all the events for the month of October, navigating among the exhibitions, sporting events, concerts, theater shows, festivals, ballets and dance performances scheduled until 31 October. Please note: information available in this section is being updated constantly.
New entries and special events
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Rome Film Fest - Ten days of cinema, not to mention meetings, exhibitions, events, conferences and debates. From 15 to 26 October, Rome Film Fest celebrates its twentieth edition with 150 titles (18 in competition) and Italian and international guests ready to walk one of the world’s biggest red carpets.
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Alphonse Mucha. A triumph of beauty and seduction - A major exhibition paying tribute to the undisputed star of the Belle Époque. From 8 October, Palazzo Bonaparte will showcase the unmistakable style and seductive, timeless elegance of Alphonse Mucha through famous masterpieces and previously unseen works.
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Rome Art Week - A week dedicated to the complex and multifaceted world of contemporary art: from 20 to 25 October, hundreds of events in exhibition spaces, artists’ open studios, themed tours and cultural projects, all completely free of charge, offering new points of view, reflections and perspectives.
Rome free/low cost
Churches, palaces and fountains, courtyards and cloisters, elegant squares and secret piazzas, marbles and stones with a history stretching back thousands of years – even if you have a limited budget, the city does not skimp on its wonders. On 5 October, as on every first Sunday of the month, both the national cultural sites and the museums run by Roma Capitale will open their doors to the public free of charge. Please note: in some cases, a reservation is required, so always check in advance the websites of the museums. On 26 October, as on every last Sunday of the month, entry will be free to the Vatican Museums (from 9 am to 2 pm, last admission 12.30 pm). On all other days (excluding exception of Mondays), visitors can explore at no cost 8 small museums with small but valuable collections ranging from prehistory to modern and contemporary art. From October to June, the institutional buildings of Palazzo Chigi and the Casino del Bel Respiro in Villa Pamphilj are opening their doors free of charge once a month, while on the last Friday of every month, it is possible to visit the Farnesina collection of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
Free or low cost events and activities for the month of October include for example: Giornata del Contemporaneo (Contemporary Art Day) on 4 October and Festa dell’Ansa Barocca by Romadiffusa Festival (16-19 October); the site-specific installation Luminis between Ponte Sisto and Ponte Mazzini (until 20 October), the exhibitions Urs Fischer. After Nature at the Gagosian Gallery, From Pop to Eternity at La Vaccheria, Of Light and Dust. Eritrea in the Photographs of Alessandro Moggi (7-26 October) at the Mattatoio, Filippo Sassòli. Two-dimensional inventions at Palazzo Esposizioni, Ōdate’s Magewappa - The Aesthetics of Japanese Tradition at the Japanese Cultural Institute, Women and Ruins: Archaeology, Photography, and Landscape at the American Academy in Rome, Daniele Puppi. Eh, lampu! at the Accademia Nazionale di San Luca, Operai dell’arte. Industria e arte nella Repubblica Popolare Polacca at the Polish Institute in Rome; the Crypta Balbi: cantiere aperto project (every Saturday) and the immersive tour of Palazzo San Felice (on weekends), guided tours of the underground basilica of Porta Maggiore (9 October) and the Sessorium (23 October) as part of the Giubileo dei Margini, and Forte Bravetta (12 and 26 October) as part of Unexpected Itineraries of Rome; documentary films of I documentari di Internazionale a Roma (14-19 October) at Palazzo Esposizioni; the Jazz&Image musical evenings at the Parco del Celio (until 15 October), concerts in the churches of St. Paul within the Walls (Franklin Central High School Choir, 7 October), Santa Maria dell’Anima (5, 7, 12 and 30 October) and Sant’Antonio dei Portoghesi (4, 11, 18 and 25 October); the Lazio Region Sacred Music Festival (4-7 October, 10-11 October), the International Organ Festival at the Pantheon (3, 10, 17 and 24 October), the Festival of Sacred Popular Music “Sonus Domini” (18 and 25 October) and Un organo per Roma (11, 18 and 25 October). Find more tips on the cultureroma and informagiovani websites.
Jubilee 2025: the events
In October, the Jubilee will continue with other thematic events: the Jubilee of Migrants and the Jubilee of the Missions (4-5 October), the Jubilee of Consecrated Life (8-9 October), the Jubilee of Marian Spirituality (11-12 October), the Jubilee of the Roma, Sinti and Travelling Peoples (18 October), the Jubilee of synodal teams and participatory bodies (24-26 October) and the Jubilee of the World of Education (27 October - 1 November). On 4 and 25 October, the faithful and pilgrims can attend the Holy Father’s Jubilee Audience in St. Peter’s Square and then enter the Basilica through the Holy Door, even without registering on the registration portal (free audience tickets at the Prefecture of the Pontifical Household). On 11 October, during the prayer vigil for the Jubilee of Marian Spirituality, St. Peter’s Square will host a rosary for peace at 6 p.m. On this occasion the original statue of Our Lady of Fatima will be placed in the churchyard of the basilica. The statue will be on display in Rome for the fourth time in its history. During the Jubilee year, Bill Fontana’s sound installation The Silent Echoes of a Great Sound Sculpture will welcome visitors in the portico of the basilica. Inside the basilica’s halls located in one of the pillars supporting Michelangelo’s dome, the permanent exhibition Pétros ení: Saint Peter’s Digital Experience will reveal the story of St. Peter and the history of the basilica. The Jubilee is at the center of a number of exhibitions taking place in the city’s cultural spaces: Roma 1975 - Città, volti e storie nell’anno giubilare (Rome 1975 - Cities, faces and stories in the Jubilee Year) at the Drugstore Museum, 1350. Il Giubileo senza papa - The Jubilee without a Pope at Mercati di Traiano Museo dei Fori Imperiali (from 9 October) and Sulle vie del Giubileo. Pellegrini, treni, papi - Along Jubilee Routes. Pilgrims, Trains, Popes at Villa Farnesina (until 25 October). For more information on pilgrimages to the Holy Doors and major Jubilee events, please contact the Info Point for the Jubilee 2025 in Via della Conciliazione 7. For tourist reception (information and sales), two new temporary Tourist Infopoints are active until 31 December 2025: the Tourist Infopoint Auditorium Conciliazione and the Tourist Infopoint San Paolo.
Rome with kids
Museums to explore, educational workshops and readings, theme parks, theatrical performances and much more... Discover all the events dedicated to children scheduled for the month of October and unleash your imagination among surprising adventures, journeys through history, interactive itineraries and guided tours. Our Kids page is updated weekly: visit us again for new ideas!
The days of Rome: key dates in the city’s history and traditions
Rites, festivals, anniversaries and celebrations have always marked the life of the city, its inhabitants and its visitors: a dense calendar of fixed happenings dating back to past eras, but also to the present day, that define Rome’s identity. Discover with us some of the city’s old and new special dates and moments, with the most heartfelt or awaited occasions – or even simply the most curious ones for the month of October.
The many facets of Rome: places of the ancient Rome, papal Rome and modern Rome to (re)discover
The pagan Rome that was the center of one of the largest empires that ever existed; the symbol city of the Catholic religion shaped by the successors on the throne of Peter; the new capital of the Kingdom of Italy and then of the Republic. The history of an eternal city is inevitably made up of multiple narratives that intertwine with one another. Each month, we will introduce you to three places that show the different imagines of Rome through the centuries.
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The Mausoleum of Saint Helena - An ante-litteram queen mother with a biography that is at times novelistic. Born in the lower classes, wife (perhaps a marriage recognized in fact but not in law) of Constantius Chlorus, who repudiated her in favor of a more glamorous bride, Helena Flavia Julia arrived late in life at the splendor of the court, followed, however, by the glory of sainthood for her role in the spread of Christianity. Appointed as Augusta by her son Constantine I when he became absolute ruler of the Empire, Helena was buried at the third mile of the Via Labicana, in the mausoleum that, due to the “pignatte” (large amphorae) inserted into the dome, would give its name to an entire Roman neighborhood - Tor Pignattara. On 11 and 25 October, the mausoleum will also be open in the evening with free visits organized by the Soprintendenza Speciale Roma.
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The Church of Santi Luca e Martina - It was a “miraculous” event that sealed the fate of the ancient church in the Roman Forum, which at the end of the 16th century had been granted in perpetuity to the then University of Painters, later Accademia di San Luca. On 25 October 1634, during excavations carried out at his own expense by the newly elected Prince of the Academy, Pietro da Cortona, to build his own funeral chapel in the crypt, a chest containing the relics of the Roman martyr Martina was discovered. The sensation was such that Urban VIII Barberini decided to make the saint one of the patron saints of Rome and loosen the papal purse strings, financing a complex renovation project for the church, which is now one of the most important examples of early Roman Baroque architecture.
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The bunker and air-raid shelters of Villa Torlonia - Between 1943 and 1944, Rome was hit by 51 air raids. Three years earlier, the first underground protective structures had begun to be built in the villa inhabited by Benito Mussolini to minimise damage from possible attacks by the Allied forces. The bunker itself remained unfinished after Mussolini’s dismissal and arrest, but it still served as a refuge for the inhabitants of the villa and neighboring houses during the German occupation. Reopened to the public in 2024 with a new multimedia exhibition and transformed into a place of remembrance, the bunker and air-raid shelters of Villa Torlonia can be visited on Saturdays and Sundays from October to December.
Itineraries and curiosities: our tips
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When Italy became a nation: the Museum of the Risorgimento - From the blue jeans worn by Giuseppe Garibaldi to the flag of the Roman Republic of 1849. In the Museo del Risorgimento, conceived in 1884 but only inaugurated on 2 October 1970 on the centenary of Rome’s annexation to the Kingdom of Italy, paintings and sculptures, diaries, letters, weapons and memorabilia tell the story of how Italy became a united and independent nation. Find out more in the dedicated page.
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Following in Federico Fellini’s footstep in Rome - Rimini was his hometown, but Rome, where Fellini moved when he was just nineteen and where he died on 31 October 1993, was the second home he never left. The city was a constant presence in the imagery of the great director from his first independently produced feature film, The White Sheik, with the arrival of the newlyweds on their honeymoon at Termini Station. Find out more in the dedicated page.
