Next time you're in Italy, be sure to visit one of these awesome festivals!

1. The Best Festivals in Tuscany, Italy A Ruba Visual Travel Guide

2. Il Palio This biannual festival in Siena is a must-see if you’re in Italy during the summer. It’s held in the town center on July 2 & August 16 and is festive competition between neighborhoods

3. Mercantia A late July festival of jugglers, fire eaters, musicians, dancers, poets and all other kinds of street performers who flood Certaldo Alto to the delight of onlookers

4. Regatta of the Maritime Republics A friendly competition that rotates between the four historically great maritime powers of Italy: Pisa, Genoa, Venice and Amalfi. The regatta will next be held in Pisa in 2010

5. Carnevale in Viareggio While the Venice celebrations are the most famous of this pre-Lent festival, Viareggio also hosts a fabulous one complete with masks and a huge parade

6. Scoppio del Care in Venice This Easter Sunday celebration dates back to the First Crusade when fire was distributed by cart to residents to relight their hearths following Good Friday. Today the cart is covered in fire crackers and pulled by white oxen to a waiting cathedral square

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