Visit Rimini

La Notte Rosa, or the Pink night is an annual festival, started in 2006, involving the Emilia-Romagna Adriatic Riviera, from Commachio through to Cattolica. Its center-piece, of course, is Rimini.

The festival is a variation on the White Night / Notte Bianca /Nuit Blanche concept that became popular in the late ’90s and is now found in many major European cities. The idea, based in part on the traditional White Nights carnival in St. Petersburg, and refined in the French city of Nantes by Jean Blaise, the French artistic director – who would become the artistic director of the Nuit Blanche in Paris. The idea is relatively simple – an all-night festival where cultural and artistic events take place, bringing visitors into the city.

Emilia-Romagna’s Notte Rosa has a number of twists, though, on the original theme. The first important one is that the festival takes place not just in one city, but all along the coastline. There are concerts and cultural events organised up and down the coastline, throughout the night. The next twist is the colour – Pink: La Notte Rosa aimed from the start to contrast the classic stereotype of the Riviera nightlife – a place that’s dark, exciting and mainly for hedonists; instead, using the colour pink, the night aims to define itself as soft, gentle, and welcoming – perfect for families, for couples etc. In practical terms pink works better than white as well, as the whole coastline illuminates itself in pink! a site to behold

The festival, first proposed in 2006 by Andrea Gnassi (then responsible for tourism policy in Rimini – Gnassi is currently Mayor of Rimini), has become one of the biggest events in Italy with staggering numbers:

• Up to 2 million guests
• 110km of coastline partying
• Over 300 venues
• Over 16 major events
• 1,426 beach facilities involved
• 3,500 hotels illuminated in pink

The Notte Rosa is traditionally held on the first weekend of July. The main action, in Rimini, for the Notte Rosa is generally along the beachfront, with most of the piazza’s playing host to free concerts (there is often a ticketed main concert in Piazzale Fellini – artists have included Francesco de Gregori, Antonello Venditi, and Giorgia) and events. It’s worth noting that there are usually Notte Rosa themed events in the days running up to the big night, in the city centre as well.