Circo Prenestino No Oil Carnival

A carnival that runs on pedals

The Circo Prenestino No Oil Carnival is one of the most recognizable neighborhood festivals in Rome, located in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, in the Lazio region. Born and raised between Pigneto and Via Prenestina, it is a masked parade that has chosen a simple and radical rule: no motorized vehicles. The floats are built by residents and pushed by pedals, the music is live or carried on shoulders, and everything that moves along the route is powered by legs and arms. Hence the name No Oil, which declares the event's ecological vocation from the very title.

The Circo Prenestino

The Circo Prenestino is not a professional company but a collective: a group of residents, street artists, musicians, jugglers, and local associations from the eastern part of the city who gather every year to build masks, floats, and choreography. Preparation takes place in the weeks leading up to the Carnival, with open workshops where children and adults create papier-mâché masks, costumes, and mobile structures together. It is a way of viewing the festival as a neighborhood practice, where the result matters less than the shared process that produces it.

The parade route

The departure takes place from the Giardino Angelo Galafati, next to the Toti school, just a few steps from the Pigneto metro stop. From there, the procession crosses Piazza Nuccitelli Persiani, Piazza dei Condottieri, and Via Roberta Malatesta, livening up streets and balconies with confetti, drums, and brass instruments, finally arriving at the Parco delle Energie Ex Snia on Via Prenestina. The route is short but dense: it crosses one of the most vibrant and layered urban fabrics of Rome, among old public housing buildings, urban gardens, and murals.

The Parco delle Energie and the Ex Snia lake

The arrival at the Parco delle Energie Ex Snia is no coincidence. The area of the former Snia Viscosa factory has become a symbol of grassroots reclamation over the years: inside it lies the spontaneous Ex Snia lake, born from an aquifer intercepted during a construction excavation and now protected as a natural monument. Ending the Carnival here means linking the festival to a history of urban environmentalism that the neighborhood proudly claims, which explains why the ecological theme runs through every edition.

The grand finale

From late afternoon, the party moves to the Csoa eXSnia, at Via Prenestina 173-175, with a program that combines:

• juggling and circus acts by the parade artists;
• live music until evening;
• collective dances open to all ages;
• carnival sweets, such as traditional Roman frappe and castagnole;
• fireworks and bonfires that symbolically close the day.

An event for families

Despite its markedly self-managed soul, the No Oil Carnival is a child-friendly festival: the parade is slow, free, and entirely outdoors, and on the morning of the event, mask-making workshops are held. For many families in the neighborhood, it is the fixed appointment of the Roman Carnival, a local alternative to the more touristy events in the historic center.

When to go

The date always falls during the Carnival period, between February and early March depending on the liturgical calendar. The 2026 edition, the twenty-seventh, took place on Sunday, February 15; the 2025 one fell on Sunday, March 2. It is advisable to follow the Csoa eXSnia channels and neighborhood pages in the weeks leading up to the event, as the route and times are communicated close to the date.