Italy's San Giovanni Festival 2025: dates, events & customs

If you’re anywhere near northern Italy in late June, you’ll notice a certain buzz in the air – it’s all down to the Festa de San Giovanni, or St John's Night.

Torch-lit boat parades, live music under the stars, and laughter echoing across lakeside villages—San Giovanni is one of those genuine Italian traditions that gathers both locals and travellers. In Florence, Turin or alongside the shores of Lake Como, the festival bursts into life with street food, fireworks and a contagious energy.

What is the San Giovanni Festival?

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San Giovanni is an annual celebration held in various Italian cities towards the end of June. It’s rooted in religious tradition with John the Baptist as the patron saint of Florence, Turin, and Genoa, among others.

Over time, the Saint John celebrations have become a much-loved community bash, blending sacred rituals with good old local fun. Expect streets decked out with banners, families sharing traditional dishes, bands and street performers turning public squares into stages. The night usually ends with everyone craning their necks for the fireworks.

At its heart, San Giovanni is about marking the height of summer and celebrating that special mix of faith, history, and everyday life that you really notice when you live here.

Festival of San Giovanni 2025

Martin Falbisoner, CC BY-SA 3.0 Creative commons

Though each place has its own traditions, most big San Giovanni celebrations peak around June 24th. This traditional family-friendly festival mixes processions, street feasts and some truly impressive firework displays. Each city adds its own stamp. In Florence, there’s that famously rowdy calcio storico fiorentino match, while Lake Como is known for its spectacular floating fireworks and boat parades.

Florence

21st - 24th June

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Florence is probably the most famous spot for the festival. The festival kicks off on the 21st with the traditional Cetilar San Giovanni Night Run. The big day features a historic parade and the calcio storico final, which is a centuries-old, gladiator-style football match in Piazza Santa Croce. The evening’s legendary fireworks over the Arno are a highlight, making way for the nighttime shenanigans. 

Turin

19th - 24th June

Turin marks San Giovanni 2025 with lively processions through the city centre, live music, a vintage car parade, and a historical reenactment on the Sunday before the main festivities. Things really kick off with an opening concert on the 19th, setting the mood for the week ahead. On the night of the 24th, crowds gather for the headline patron saint’s concert, “Torino is Fantastic”, which brings together top Italian artists and a special set from Shaggy. The celebrations wrap up in classic style with a huge fireworks display over Piazza Vittorio Veneto at 11.30 pm.

Lake Como

20th-29th June

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Lake Como’s version, Sagra di San Giovanni, centres on the dramatic San Giovanni fireworks. There's a historical re-enactment of the epic fire of Isola Comacina, a Holy Mass, and a Solemn Procession on Sunday. The area known as Zoca de L'Oli lights up with candelight, and thousands flock to the banks of the lake to see the fireworks display.

Genoa

24th June 2025
Genoa also honours its patron with a mix of religious events, processions through the old town, and popular evening fireworks. The Feast of San Giovanni is a slightly more low-key affair compared to Florence or Turin, but still very much worth experiencing for that authentic Ligurian twist.

San Giovanni Festival: unique traditions

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The origins go back to both Christian and pre-Christian times. In many towns, rituals like torch-lit processions and nighttime bonfires were believed to ward off evil spirits, blending local folklore with veneration for John the Baptist. 

Acqua di San Giovanni (Saint John’s Water)

In various parts of Italy, especially Tuscany and the countryside, it’s typical to gather wild herbs and flowers on the evening of June 23rd. These are left to soak in water outside overnight, so that by dawn on the 24th, the dew “charges” the water. People then wash their faces or hands with this acqua di San Giovanni—it’s supposed to bring health and good luck all year.

Barca di San Giovanni (Saint John’s Boat)

On the night of 23rd June, many fill a clear glass bottle or a bowl with water and gently add egg white to it. By morning, the egg white takes on wispy, filament-like shapes, said to resemble a tiny sailing ship—the “Boat of Saint John.” People read these ghostly boat forms as omens or signs of luck for the coming year.

Nocino

If you’re in Modena or elsewhere in Emilia-Romagna, the night of San Giovanni is the classic moment for picking unripe walnuts (ideally 24 of them, still covered in dew) to start infusing nocino, a dark, aromatic walnut liqueur.

Roman style stewed snails (Lumache alla Romana)

In Rome, it’s traditional to cook snails in tomato and mint sauce during the San Giovanni festival, particularly in the San Giovanni neighbourhood. The old saying was that snails with their spiral shells “ward off evil” and bad luck, so locals eat them in generous portions during the celebrations.

Jon Gonzalo Torróntegui, CC BY 2.0 Flickr