What's on in Palermo (Sicily), Italy through the year

Peak crowds — Christmas to the Befana, Christmas holidays in Italy

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: Christmas to the Befana (8 Dec – 6 Jan)

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in February.

Busy — Holy Week, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

• Holiday

  Holy Week

  29 Mar – 6 AprCrowdedClosures

  Processions through the old quarters and cassata in every pasticceria. It is also the week Sicilians travel, so the ferries and the Palermo to Catania road both clog. Source ↗

Peak crowds — Holy Week, Easter holidays in Italy

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Holy Week (29 Mar – 6 Apr)

Busy — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, one of its best months for weather

Nothing new starts in May.

Busy — Summer holidays in Italy, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in June.

Peak crowds — Festino di Santa Rosalia, Summer holidays in Italy

• Hazard

  Sirocco heat

  1 Jul – 31 AugExtreme heat

  When the sirocco comes off North Africa the city sits under dust-hazed African air for days at a time and the markets close by noon. Sicily's worst heat events land in this window. Source ↗

• Festival

  Festino di Santa Rosalia

  10–15 JulMajor festivalCrowded

  The city's own week, u Fistinu: a wagon carrying the saint is hauled down the Cassaro on the night of 14 July and the whole of Palermo walks behind it to fireworks over the Foro Italico. Source ↗

Peak crowds — Ferragosto, Summer holidays in Italy

• Holiday

  Ferragosto

  8–22 AugSchool holidaysClosures

  Palermitani decamp to Mondello and the coast for a fortnight around 15 August; the family trattorias and half the workshops in the centre put up shutters with a handwritten note. Source ↗

Still on: Sirocco heat (1 Jul – 31 Aug)

Busy — Summer holidays in Italy, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Acchianata to Monte Pellegrino

  3–4 SepMajor festival

  The quieter half of the Rosalia year: on the night of 3 September people walk barefoot up the old mule track to the sanctuary on the mountain, arriving for dawn on the 4th. Source ↗

Busy — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, one of its best months for weather

• Opening

  Le Vie dei Tesori

  1 Oct – 15 Nov · usuallyMajor festival

  For five or six autumn weekends a coupon buys entry to palazzi, crypts, rooftops and convents that are locked the rest of the year. The best argument for Palermo in October. Source ↗

Quiet — travelers describe it as quiet, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in November.

Still on: Le Vie dei Tesori (1 Oct – 15 Nov (usually))

Peak crowds — Christmas to the Befana, Christmas holidays in Italy

• Holiday

  Christmas to the Befana

  8 Dec – 6 JanChristmas & New YearClosures

  Cribs in the churches, buccellato and cassata in the windows, and a centre that half-closes between the holidays. Mild enough to walk all day, which December in Italy rarely is. Source ↗