Sancesarese Carnival

The Sancesarese Carnival: Three days of celebration near Rome

Every year, during the Carnival season, the town of San Cesareo—located in the metropolitan city of Rome along the Via Casilina, between Zagarolo and Colonna, at the foot of the Monti Prenestini—transforms into a grand open-air stage. The Sancesarese Carnival is a community festival in the truest sense: it is organized by the Municipality and the Pro Loco San Cesareo, together with the local Comprehensive Institute and a dense network of associations and neighborhood committees that spend weeks preparing costumes, choreography, and allegorical floats.

The school parade: The heart of the festival

The most moving moment is the parade of the San Cesareo Comprehensive Institute, which traditionally opens the celebrations on the morning of Fat Thursday, organized in partnership with the Associazione Insieme Crescere. Hundreds of students, from preschool to middle school, march through the town streets in themed costumes prepared class by class. In peak years, such as the 2019 edition reported by local press, over 1,600 students took part: a sight that effectively involves every family in the town.

Masked groups and allegorical floats

The second soul of the Sancesarese Carnival lies in the parades of groups and allegorical floats, brought to life by local committees and associations: Pro Loco San Cesareo, Catholic Action, the Colle Nobeletto Committee, the Le Capanne Coinvol.genti association, and many other local volunteer groups, with the participation of the municipal band and choir. Over the years, the floats have featured imaginative subjects—from locomotives to whales, from The Lion King to Pinocchio—built through months of artisanal work, accompanied by music, dancing, and showers of confetti.

The route through the town center

The parades wind along a well-established route in the heart of San Cesareo: starting from Piazzale de La Villetta, the procession travels along Viale dei Cedri and reaches Piazza Giulio Cesare, then continues along Via Filippo Corridoni and Via Cesare Battisti before returning to the starting point. This loop allows families and spectators to enjoy the passing masks from multiple points in the center.

San Cesareo and its territory

An autonomous municipality since 1990, San Cesareo is one of the youngest and most dynamic areas in the southeast quadrant of Rome, set in a landscape of vineyards and hills between the Castelli Romani and the Monti Prenestini. Along with the patronal feasts, the Carnival is the event that most strengthens the identity of this Lazio community, capable of mobilizing schools, parishes, and volunteers into one great popular celebration.

• Where: San Cesareo (RM), town center streets
• When: During the Carnival period, between Fat Thursday and Fat Tuesday
• Organizers: Municipality of San Cesareo, Pro Loco, Comprehensive Institute, and local associations
• For whom: Families, children, and anyone who loves local village Carnivals