Christmas in the Hamlets of the Rimini Riviera

Christmas in the villages of the Riviera di Rimini is a journey back in time, through the old traditions of Romagna and the atmosphere of the holidays. Each village in the hinterland has its own character: Sant’Agata Feltria opens the month with the largest Christmas market, Pennabilli alternates a living nativity scene with jazz, San Giovanni in Marignano revives its thousand-year-old fair, Santarcangelo weaves the festive season together with cinema, San Leo devotes December to spirituality, and Coriano fills its theatre with gospel.

• The journey begins in Sant’Agata Feltria, which on 6, 7, 8, 13 and 20 December becomes The land of Christmas, the most important winter event in central Italy for lovers of Christmas markets.

Piazza Garibaldi and the old town fill with craftwork, decorations and gift ideas, while bagpipers and Christmas music set the tone of the day. Children will find Santa’s House and the Elves’ Workshop, where letters are handed over to Natalino the postman. The trail of nativity scenes and dioramas A Riveder le Stelle runs through the village, and the Descent of the Angel is performed twice a day, at 12.30pm and 5.30pm. For lunch there is I Piatti dell’Avvento, a food trail through the restaurants and inns of the village, or the Mangiatoia, the covered and heated space in the fairground. Admission is free.

• San Giovanni in Marignano takes you inside a thousand-year-old tradition. On 12 and 13 December, from 9am to 7pm, St Lucy’s Fair returns: it grew up around the Abbey of Santa Lucia al Moscolo and moved into the town centre in 1805. Once a trading and livestock fair, later a food market, today it brings together the cult of the patron saint of eyesight, the seasonal rhythms of farming life and the events of the Christmas season, with hundreds of volunteers at work in the squares and the old town. On 27 December, from 8am to 7pm, the village also hosts Old and Antique, the antiques and collectors’ market that has filled the centre on the fourth Sunday of every month since 1995.
• In Santarcangelo di Romagna Christmas is bound up with cinema. From 9 to 13 December comes the seventh edition of the Places of the Soul Festival, dedicated to places and their memory, with films in competition, special screenings, masterclasses and meetings with directors, actors and writers. The festival is promoted by the Tonino Guerra Museum and Study Centre together with the Tonino Guerra Cultural Association and the municipalities of Santarcangelo, Rimini and Pennabilli.
• In San Leo, December is the Month of Spirituality, part of the San Leo Artist Festival. There are two events: on 6 December, from 5pm to 7pm, a talk devoted to the writer Grazia Deledda in the Concert Hall of Palazzo Mediceo; and on 19 December at 9pm the International Christmas Concert in the Cathedral, one of the most eagerly awaited dates of the season.
• Finally, in Coriano, on 16 December at 9.15pm, the Teatro CorTe hosts Cedric Shannon Rives with The Unlimited Praise Gospel Singers: a gospel concert tracing the career of the Missouri-born singer, from his first albums to the musical stage.
• In Pennabilli, the first sign of Christmas is the Nativity Scene on the Cliff, on view from 8 December until the end of January. Also from 8 December, Palazzo Bargello hosts In Search of My Light, a tale by Christine Joan built around an inner journey towards the light that lives in each of us: it can be visited from 10am to 7pm on 12, 13, 19, 20, 26 and 27 December and on 2, 3, 6, 9 and 10 January.

Craft markets fill the streets of the village all day long on the Sundays of 6, 13 and 20 December, and each Sunday has an event of its own. On 6 December, from 2pm, comes the show Bimbobell Show Magico Natale, with Christmas magic tricks by Arianna Barlini for children and grown-ups alike. The 13th is the day of the Santa Claus Run, a race open to children and teenagers aged 3 to 14 organised by Maciano Team Runner, after which Father Christmas collects the children’s letters. On the 20th it is the turn of Natale di Legno e Fantasia, with workshops run by the Associazione L’Ago di MaSca for local schoolchildren, followed by a historical performance of the Living Nativity.

Between Christmas and New Year the village changes register: on 27, 28 and 29 December comes the Pennabilli Django Festival, an international jazz music festival.