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With autumn around the corner and Romans returning to the city after their summer exodus, September is a great time to experience the city at its most vibrant. Catch the tail-end of summer events, including outdoor film screenings and concerts, and pay a visit to annual festivals and newly opened exhibitions.

Friday, September 1 – Sunday, September 10

Isola del Cinema

FILM | Rome’s cinema island

📅 Ongoing – Sunday, September 3rd

The Isola del Cinema music festival which takes place each year on Rome’s Tiber Island screens Italian and international movies throughout the month of August. This outdoor cinema, located on the banks of the Tiber River, is a beautiful place to catch a flick. See the full calendar of screenings online.

Tickets: €6

📍Isola Tiberina, Piazza S. Bartolomeo All’Isola 21, Rome, Italy

CONCERT | Listen to indie in an outdoor garden

📅 Friday, September 8th

Catch American indie band Clap Your Hands Say Yeah live at Monk Club on Friday. Located in Pigneto, Monk is one of the city’s best spots for live music and alternative cultural events in Rome.

Tickets: TBD

📍Monk Club, Via Giuseppe Mirri 35

THEATER | The Merchant of Venice

📅 Ongoing through Sunday, September 10th

The Silvano Toti Globe Theatre inside Villa Borghese is a replica of The Globe Theatre in London with stellar performances. See a performance of The Merchant of Venice (Il Mercante di Venezia) translated into Italian for a peek into this fascinating theater.

Tickets: from €10

📍Globe Theatre, Largo Aqua Felix (inside Villa Borghese park)

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 11 – SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 17

Domus Aurea

CULTURE | Archaeology comes to life

📅 Saturdays and Sundays through December 31st, 2017

Emperor Nero’s Domus Aurea, or “Golden House”, was the grandest villa built in Roman civilisation. This year, the archaeological restoration site has introduced a new way to experience Rome’s cultural heritage: a virtual reality tour illuminates this underground space and brings Nero’s legendary palace to life through sights, sounds and colours.
Tickets: €14

📍Domus Aurea, Via della Domus Aurea 1

CONCERT | Palazzo Venezia’s hidden courtyard

📅 Friday, September 15th

Located in Piazza Venezia, the Palazzo Venezia museum is often overlooked by tourists and contains a lovely hidden courtyard within it that plays host to a number of events in the summer months. On Friday, attend a concert featuring Nicola Piovani, famed Italian pianist and theater and film composer, accompanied by a small orchestra.

Tickets: €10

📍Palazzo Venezia, Via del Plebiscito 118, Rome, Italy

BAR | Rooftop drinks

📅 Ongoing through Saturday, September 30th

Lanificio is a woolen mill-turned restaurant and nightclub with a rooftop garden in Rome’s Pietralata district. Each summer, Lanificio hosts a festival of sorts on its roof with DJ sets, live music, a cocktail bar, barbecue and more.

Tickets: n/a, by consumption

📍Lanificio, Via di Pietralata 159-159a, Rome, Italy

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 18 – SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 24

Piazza del Quirinale

ART | Picasso exhibit opens in Rome

📅 Thursday, September 21st – January 27th, 2018

Scuderie del Quirinale, originally the Papal Stables, are now used as one of Rome’s premier exhibition spaces. This autumn, the Scuderie del Quirinale museum is hosting an exhibit dedicated to prolific Spanish artist Pablo Picasso titled “Between Cubism and Neoclassicism: 1915 – 1925”. The exhibit will feature 100 works that were created following Picasso’s three month trip to Rome, alongside writer Jean Cocteau, in February 1917.

Tickets: €12

📍Scuderie del Quirinal, Via Ventiquattro Maggio 16

FILM | Live cinema

📅 Thursday, September 21st – Sunday, September 24th

The 4th edition of the Live Cinema Festival will take place at the Via Nizza branch of the MACRO, Rome’s contemporary and modern art museum. A number of innovative audio-video performances will provide commentary on the role of technology in today’s world.

Tickets: free

📍MACRO, Via Nizza 138

CUISINE | Taste of Rome

📅 Thursday, September 21st – Sunday, September 24th

An annual appointment for foodies in the Eternal City, the 6th edition of the Taste of Rome trade show will take place once again at Auditorium Parco della Musica in north Rome. 15 chefs from Michelin starred restaurants will create 60 dishes for guests to taste and a number of workshops will take place.

Tickets: €16 entrance, then by consumption

📍Parco della Musica

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 25 – SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 30

MAXXI

ART | Zaha Hadid exhibit at the MAXXI

📅 Ongoing through January 14th, 2018
Designed by the late architectural star Zaha Hadid, the MAXXI – Italy’s National Museum of 21st-Century Arts – has put Rome on the map for contemporary art and architecture. The current exhibit on Zaha Hadid’s Italy highlights the architect’s relationship with the country and the works she created there.
Tickets: €12
📍MAXXI, Via Guido Reni 4

SHOPPING | Shop with the Hipsters at MercatoMonti

📅Saturday, September 30th – Sunday, October 1st

Spend an afternoon perusing vintage, design and artisanal wares at the MercatoMonti, where you’ll find everything from trinkets and second-hand purses to furniture and works of art made by local artisans.

Tickets: free

📍MercatoMonti, Via Leonina 46

FESTIVAL | Think green

📅 Saturday, September 30th – Sunday, October 1st

The seventh edition of the Think Green Ecofestival will take place near Rome’s Appia Antica Park. The festival aims to promote sustainability and is a fun event for the whole family: it offers numerous walking tours, arts and crafts workshops for kids, an artisan market and more.

Tickets: free

📍Ex Cartiera Latina, Via Appia Antica 42

About the author

Livia Hengel is an Italian-American writer, photographer and traveler with a penchant for la dolce vita and a severe case of wanderlust. Originally born in Rome, she spent her life living around the world in Peru, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Turkey and the US before moving back to her city of birth. She is passionate about all things cultural, existential, stirring and beautiful and is happiest when she is contemplating human nature over a glass of wine or wandering off-the-beaten-path in a new city. When she's not traveling around Italy, you can find Livia eating her way through the best restaurants in Rome or keeping up with Instagram. Livia is the author of The HUNT Guide for Rome and also contributes to Spotted by Locals.

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