What's on in Pisa, Italy through the year

Peak crowds — Christmas and New Year, Christmas holidays in Italy

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: Christmas and New Year (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 — Easter and Pasquetta, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

• Holiday

  Easter and Pasquetta

  29 Mar – 6 AprEaster & Holy WeekCrowdedBook early

  The first big coach week of the year on the Campo dei Miracoli, and tower slots for the Easter weekend are usually gone a month ahead. Source ↗

• Festival

  Capodanno Pisano

  25 MarMajor festival

  Pisa's old calendar began the year on 25 March, and the city still marks it: at noon a shaft of light through the cathedral wall lands on a marble egg, then a costumed procession crosses town. Source ↗

Peak crowds — Easter and Pasquetta, Coach season on the Campo

• Season

  Coach season on the Campo

  1 Apr – 15 Oct · usuallyDay-tripper crushCrowded

  Most people here are on a half-day stop between Florence and Livorno, which means the Campo dei Miracoli is a scrum from ten to five and close to empty before nine and after six.

• Holiday

  Spring bank-holiday bridges

  25 Apr – 2 JunNational holidayCrowdedBook early

  Liberation Day (25 April), Labour Day (1 May) and Republic Day (2 June) are public holidays, and when one falls near a weekend Italians bridge it into a long break, the ponte. Those weekends bring domestic crowds, fuller trains and higher room rates, and some shops close on the day. Source ↗

Still on: Easter and Pasquetta (29 Mar – 6 Apr)

Peak crowds — Coach season on the Campo, Spring bank-holiday bridges

Nothing new starts in May.

Still on: Coach season on the Campo (1 Apr – 15 Oct (usually)), Spring bank-holiday bridges (25 Apr – 2 Jun)

Peak crowds — Coach season on the Campo, Spring bank-holiday bridges

• Festival

  Luminara di San Ranieri

  16–17 JunLights & fireCrowded

  On the night of 16 June the palazzi along both banks of the Arno are outlined in tens of thousands of candles and the street lights go off. The rowing regatta follows on the 17th. Source ↗

• Festival

  Gioco del Ponte

  24–30 Jun · usuallyMajor festivalCrowded

  On the last Saturday in June the two halves of the city push a seven-tonne cart at each other across the Ponte di Mezzo, in armour, after a parade of several hundred people in costume. Source ↗

Still on: Coach season on the Campo (1 Apr – 15 Oct (usually)), Spring bank-holiday bridges (25 Apr – 2 Jun)

Peak crowds — Coach season on the Campo, Summer holidays in Italy

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Coach season on the Campo (1 Apr – 15 Oct (usually))

Peak crowds — Coach season on the Campo, Ferragosto

• Holiday

  Ferragosto

  8–22 AugSchool holidaysClosuresCrowded

  The monuments stay open and busy while the rest of the city takes its fortnight: student Pisa is gone, and the places locals eat in are the ones with the shutters down. Source ↗

Still on: Coach season on the Campo (1 Apr – 15 Oct (usually))

Peak crowds — Coach season on the Campo, Summer holidays in Italy

• Festival

  Anima Mundi sacred music

  5–28 Sep · usuallyMusic festival

  Two or three weeks in September of symphonic-choral concerts inside the cathedral, alternating with chamber evenings in the Camposanto next door. Seats are ticketed and go early. Source ↗

• Festival

  Pisa Book Festival

  2–4 OctArts festivalCrowded

  Independent-publishing fair at Palazzo dei Congressi since 2003, with author meetings, translator seminars and a rotating guest-country programme. Source ↗

Still on: Coach season on the Campo (1 Apr – 15 Oct (usually))

Peak crowds — Coach season on the Campo, Pisa Book Festival

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Coach season on the Campo (1 Apr – 15 Oct (usually)), Pisa Book Festival (2–4 Oct)

Peak crowds — travelers describe it as peak season, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in November.

Peak crowds — Christmas and New Year, Christmas holidays in Italy

• Holiday

  Christmas and New Year

  8 Dec – 6 JanChristmas & New Year

  The quietest the Campo gets all year, and the one stretch when you can photograph the tower without a queue of people pretending to hold it up. Short opening hours on the holidays themselves. Source ↗