Umbria Jazz Winter

How New Year's is celebrated with jazz

In Orvieto, the end of the year has an unmistakable sound. For over thirty years, the Umbria Jazz Foundation has brought the winter edition of the festival that made the history of African-American music in Italy to the city in the Province of Terni. While the summer festival invades Perugia in July, Umbria Jazz Winter chooses the rigor and intimacy of the Orvieto winter: five days in which medieval palaces, 19th-century theaters, and even the Duomo open their doors to music.

An entire city becomes a stage

The festival unfolds across a network of venues in the historic center. The Teatro Mancinelli, a 19th-century gem, hosts the main concerts; the Emilio Greco Museum, the Sala dei 400, and the Palazzo del Capitano del Popolo accommodate special projects and more intimate sets; the Palazzo dei Sette becomes the convivial heart with bistros and jazz dinners. Street bands liven up alleys and squares during the day, while the Duomo hosts gospel concerts, with a symbolic event on the morning of January 1st, the World Day of Peace.

Not just concerts

Umbria Jazz Winter also offers a program of cultural enrichment: book presentations on jazz, the famous blindfold tests with critics and musicians, and UJ4Kids workshops dedicated to children with soundtracking of animated shorts. Added to this is the gastronomic experience of jazz lunches and jazz dinners, which combine live music with local cuisine.

An event for the city of Orvieto

The festival is now part of the winter identity of Orvieto and Umbria: it attracts enthusiasts from all over Italy and abroad, transforming the city into a destination for end-of-year cultural tourism. For those seeking a different New Year's Eve, far from anonymous banquets, it is an opportunity to experience top-level music within one of Italy's most evocative villages.