October is one of the most beautiful and busy months of the year in Italy. Here are a few things going on this month:

International Antiques Fair in Florence. This biannual event will take place through October 4 at the Palazzo Corsini. Almost 100 authenticated antiques sellers from around Italy will be exhibiting their wares.

Caravaggio Bacon. This unusual show will compare the works and lives of two “cursed” artists Caravaggio and Francis Bacon. See their works side by side in the Galleria Borghese in Rome from October 2 through January 24, 2010.

Festival Verdi. Parma, in Emilia Romagna, will hold a festival in honor of composer Giuseppe Verdi beginning today and running through the 28th. Throughout the city will be staged operas, concerts and other events. More info here.

La Barcolana Sailing Contest. Europe’s biggest sailing event takes place in the Gulf of Trieste on October 11. Prepare to be awed by the sight of more than 2,000 sailboats competing against one another on a 16 nautical mile course. See www.barcolana.it for more info.

Eurochocolate 2009. The 16th installment of the chocolate extravaganza will take place from October 16-25th in Perugia (Umbria). This year’s theme is “Breaking the Rules” (Rompete Le Righe) and will highlight creativity. You can learn more by visiting www.eurochocolate.com or checking out Eurochocolate on Facebook. You can also get news on your mobile.

Photo from www.mondomostre.it.

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Here is a sampling of exhibits beginning or ending this fall in Italy. For a longer list, check out Ansa, the Italian news service, or visit our tourism boards page and click on the area you are interested in.

BOLZANO – Museo Archeologico dell’Alto Adige: Iceman joined by more than 60 mummies from Ancient Egypt, Asia, South America and Oceania; until October 25.

FLORENCE

-Medici Chapels: show on life and times of Ferdinand I de’ Medici, powerful third grand duke of Tuscany (1549-1609), marking 400th anniversary of his death; until November 1.

-Palazzo Strozzi: Galileo show marking 400th anniversary of his first observations of the night sky; 250 exhibits including the middle finger from Galileo’s right hand; until August 30.

MARSALA – Convento del Carmine: Monochrome; 70 works from post-war Italy to the 1970s by artists including Alberto Burri, Lucio Fontana and Mimmo Rotella; until October 18.

MILAN

Palazzo Reale: 250 paintings from influential 19th-century Scapigliatura movement; until November 22.

- same venue: Robert Wilson’s ‘Voom Portraits’, celebrities like Mikhail Baryshnikov, Johnny Depp, Robert Downey, Salma Hayek, Isabelle Huppert, Jeanne Moreau, Brad Pitt and Princess Caroline of Monaco; but also ordinary people and animals; until October 4.

- same venue: 20 Monet water lily works from Musee’ Marmottan in Paris; until September 27.

- same venue: 36 years of cartoons by political satirist Giorgio Forattini; until September 27.

ROME

- Palazzo Venezia: The Mind of Leonardo, The Universal Genius at Work; acclaimed exhibit already seen at Uffizi and in Tokyo; until August 30. HURRY!

- Palazzo delle Esposizioni: Bulgari, Between Eternity and History, 1884-2009; 125 Years of Italian Jewels; the first retrospective in the brand’s history, featuring 400 pieces; until September 13. HURRY!

VENICE – Biennale: 53th and biggest-ever edition of world’s oldest arts festival; 90 artists at 77 national pavilions, including Joan Jonas, Lygia Pape, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Xu Tan, Thomas Saraceno, Nikhil Chopra and Anawana Haloba; until November 22.

Photo from the Venice Biennale website

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We missed March’s event round-up and we’re late for this month’s. So here we go…

Easter: Last month, we posted the Vatican’s Holy Week Calendar. The website whatsonwhen.com lists two of Italy’s most famous Easter celebrations: Florence’s Scoppio del Carro and Madonna che Scappa in Piazza (Madonna who runs in the square) in Sulmona (Abruzzo). Taranto, in Puglia, is also known for its hours-long Holy Week processions, a tradition from the days when Puglia was a Spanish territory.

Spring! A profusion of flowers and outdoor events usher in spring in Italy. Milan puts on the annual Fiori e Sapori gardening show and food fair on April 5. If you’re in Rome this month, you can expect to see the Spanish Steps abloom with flowers of pink, red, and white.

Food and Wine. In addition to the Fiori e Sapori fest in Milan (see above), there are a number of food festivals this month. From April 17-20, Genoa will  host Slow Fish, a tribute by local restaurants to fish and seafood done the traditional (slow) way. There will be wine festivals in Rome (April 25-26) and Porto Cervo in Sardinia (24-26) and, through April 6, Verona will host VinItaly, which brings together wine producers from all over the country.

Sport: In Rome, there’ll be the derby between Lazio and Roma (April 19). On the same day in Venice will be the Su e Zo per i Ponti, a sort of walkathon “up and down” the canal city’s bridges.

April also sees the celebration of Liberation Day (25) and the birth of Rome, which, on April 21, will be too old for me to calculate!

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Dear readers,

I realize I’ve neglected you for a while now. But, for good reason. I gave birth to my second son – Leo – on November 19. So, since then, I’ve been recovering and getting to know the little fella. Blogging has been furthest on my mind, as you can imagine, but now I’m back (slowly but surely) to provide you with a very short list of some Christmas happenings in Italy this month.

Rome. Rome is magnificent around Christmas, not least of all because of the Christmas Market in Piazza Navona. This year, the Eternal City will also be filled with music, thanks to events like Natale all’Auditorium at the Parco della Musica. The Christmas festival, which will run for a month between December 6 and January 6, will feature numerous Italian acts singing holiday standards and will also play host to the Roma Gospel Festival, among whose acts will include Anthony Morgan’s Inspirational Choir of Harlem. Elsewhere in the city, from December 20 through 30 you can catch the Nutcracker (Lo Schiaccianoci) at the Teatro Nazionale. If you happen to be in Rome on December 8, you may be able to catch a glimpse of Pope Benedict XVI himself as he travels across town to lay a wreath at the Spanish Steps in commemoration of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

Milan. Milan’s annual contribution to the Christmas landscape is the “Oh Bej! Oh Bej” Festival, which happens around the feast day of the city’s patron St. Ambrose on December 7. Essentially, Oh Bej! is a traditional Christmas market selling artisanal crafts and local fare that the whole city comes out for. It is held annually at the Castello Sforzesco.

Venice. Christmas in the Lagoon, which takes place in the city’s Campo Santo Stefano, is Venice’s answer to the annual Christmas fair. There, you can pick up Murano glass, artisanal soaps and perfumes, and all manner of Italian snacks and sweets. This year’s fair goes through December 23. And, according to the Natale in Laguna website, the itinerary remains unchanged despite the recent flooding.

There are, of course, tons of other Christmas markets going on in Italy this month. For a more exhaustive run-down, check out this list from About.com or surf on over to whatsonwhen.com.

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November is typically a slow month for tourism in Italy. So listed below are only a few events going on in the country. On the other other hand, this November is hardly slow for me. I’m awaiting the birth of my second child in about a week’s time. So, be prepared for fewer posts for just a little while. Thanks, and I’ll be up and blogging again soon!

Bonfire of the Vanities. This tip for La Fugurena, a harvest festival culminating in a huge bonfire in the town of Terra del Sole (in Cesena, Emilia-Romagna), comes from the site whatsonwhen.com. The event takes place on November 16, with the fire being lit after dark. As the harsh winds of winter start to blow into northern Italy, I can’t think of a cozier place to be.

Lucio Fontana in Genoa. Contemporary art lovers can catch the Lucio Fontana exhibition at Genoa’s Palazzo Ducale now through February 2009. About 200 works from the Italian/Argentine artist will be on display.

Hail, Caesar. Julius Caesar returns to Rome’s Chiostro del Bramante in an exhibit that includes all sorts of archeological finds as well as paintings and sculptures of the emperor. “Julius Caesar: The man, the enterprise, the myth” runs through May 2009.

For more info on November events, check out Italofile event posts from September and October (many exhibits run through the entire fall), our 2008-2009 opera guide, and the websites whatsonwhen.com and italiantourism.com.

Related posts

• What’s On in Italy: October 2008
• What’s On in Italy: June 2008
• What’s On In Italy: April 2009
• October 2008 Article Round-Up
• What’s On in Italy: September 2008