Roman Trade Day — shops, voices, and excellence

A day for the trade that defines Rome

The Roman Trade Day — shops, voices, and excellence is the annual event where the Capital pays tribute to its commercial and artisan fabric. Promoted by the Associazione Botteghe Romane in collaboration with the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy, it takes place at the ministry's headquarters on Via Vittorio Veneto, in the Ludovisi district, just steps from Villa Borghese and Piazza Barberini. The Municipality of Rome, the capital of the Metropolitan City of Rome and the Lazio Region, boasts a heritage of historic shops registered in a special municipal register: shops, workshops, cafés, and trattorias that, in many cases, have been operating for over a century.

A sector worth 31% of the city's GDP

The figure highlighted by the organizers is telling: trade, catering, and artisan services represent approximately 31% of Rome's gross domestic product. Behind this percentage are the local markets, neighborhood shops, tailors, pork butchers, bakeries, antiquarian bookstores, and trattorias that define the city's daily identity more than any postcard. The Day was created precisely to give a voice to this world and bring its needs before the institutions.

How the event is structured

The format is a one-day conference that concludes with a convivial gathering. The program typically includes:

• an institutional session with representatives from the Government, the Municipality of Rome, and the local Boroughs;
• thematic panels dedicated to Roman cuisine worldwide, the use of public space, and license renewals;
• direct testimonials from shopkeepers and families who carry on historic businesses;
• exhibitions and installations on Roman trades and traditional products;
• a final convivial moment with tastings curated by associated businesses.

Voices and excellence

The event's subtitle — "shops, voices, and excellence" — perfectly summarizes its intent: not a trade show, but a collective narrative. The 2025 edition featured, among others, the president of the Associazione Botteghe Romane Enrico Corcos, the MIMIT chief of cabinet Federico Eichberg, Senator Maurizio Gasparri, the secretary-general of Assocamerestero Domenico Mauriello, and a councilor from Rome's First Municipality. At the heart of the debate were the need for legislation to protect historic businesses and the promotion of Made in Italy agri-food products abroad, a topic on which the network of Italian Chambers of Commerce worldwide plays a direct role.

The bicentenary of the Roman osteria

A special chapter was dedicated to the two hundred years of the modern Roman osteria (1825-2025): two centuries in which the trattoria has become a place of refreshment, a neighborhood social hub, and an ambassador of Roman cuisine to the world. Cacio e pepe, carbonara, coda alla vaccinara, and artichokes are not just dishes, but the vocabulary of a city that has made conviviality a defining trait.

Why it is worth following

For those visiting Rome, the Day is a non-touristy and highly authentic opportunity to understand the city from an angle other than the Forums and museums. For Romans, it is the moment when local commerce — the kind that resists price hikes, high rents, and competition from large platforms — finds an institutional stage. In both cases, the result is the same: you leave with a mental map of the Rome that works, opens its shutters every morning, and passes down a craft.