Giardinetti in Festa

A neighborhood festival in the heart of Rome's eastern suburbs

Giardinetti in Festa is the annual festival of the Giardinetti neighborhood, in the Municipality of Rome, Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, in the Lazio region. The neighborhood is located in the eastern quadrant of the capital, along the Via Casilina, just past exit 18 of the Grande Raccordo Anulare, in an area—Giardinetti-Torre Nova—that has about sixteen thousand inhabitants and belongs to the VI Municipality. Here, for decades, the Parish of the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ, established on March 28, 1963, and housed at Via degli Orafi 120, has been the main community reference point: the parish festival is the moment when this role becomes most visible, transforming the churchyard and the oratory spaces into a square open to the entire district.

When it takes place

The event traditionally occupies a long period, spanning from the end of May to the first days of June. The 2024 edition, for example, took place from May 25 to June 9, with a program published by the parish in a downloadable PDF format. Subsequent editions have maintained the same calendar slot: the festival accompanies the end of the catechetical and school year and usually closes with a big Sunday celebration where the parish lottery is drawn.

What you will find at the festival

The program, which varies from year to year, is always built around some recurring elements that define its identity:

• Liturgical and community moments — celebrations, meetings, and prayer appointments that mark the two weeks of the festival;
• Food stalls — kitchens set up by parish volunteers, featuring simple traditional Roman dishes, pizza, fried foods, and desserts;
• Games and activities for children — inflatables, tournaments, and workshops run by the oratory animators;
• Music and show evenings — performances by parish groups and neighborhood artists;
• Parish lottery — the prize draw that closes the event, with ten prizes drawn publicly.

The lottery, the solidarity heart of the event

The parish lottery is not just a side attraction: it is the tool with which the festival finances the coming year. As the parish itself indicates, it is a voluntary prize subscription whose proceeds are donated for the benefit of parish, religious, charitable, and oratory activities. The draw takes place on the last Sunday of the festival and the winning tickets are then published on the parish's official website: in 2026, the draw was held on Sunday, June 7. It is the most anticipated moment, when the square fills with families and the festival closes with a collective round of applause.

An opportunity to discover a neighborhood off the tourist circuit

Giardinetti does not appear in guides to monumental Rome, yet it tells the story of the contemporary capital well: a residential fabric that grew along the Casilina, with the weekly market on Via C. Santarelli, neighborhood activities, and a dense community life. The parish festival is perhaps the most direct way to enter it: there is no ticket office, no stage separated from the audience, and those arriving from outside simply find themselves sitting at a table next to the residents. For those visiting Rome who want to understand how people live in the eastern suburbs, it is a more authentic experience than many proposals packaged for visitors.

The Lazio context of parish festivals

In Lazio, and particularly in the Roman area, the parish festival is a traditional form of gathering that survives with vitality in dozens of neighborhoods and municipalities. Born as a feast for the patron saint or as a moment to close the pastoral year, it has become over time a civic appointment even before a religious one: it raises funds, brings together different generations, and gives the district an annual opportunity to recognize itself. Giardinetti in Festa fully belongs to this family of events, which dots the Roman calendar especially between May and September.