Home to Italian New Year's celebrations for the last eight years, Rimini is broadcast live on RAI Uno’s New Year’s show. Exciting events are held in the historic centre and on the waterfront during the Christmas holidays.
Once again, on December 31, 2010, Rimini will have the honour of ringing in the new year live on national TV. An eight-year old tradition that puts Rimini in the spotlight on RaiUno's 'L'anno che verrà' New Year's show.
After the six-time Tuscan show host Carlo Conti and Fabrizio Frizzi, presenter of the last edition, now it's the turn of a woman, Mara Venier accompanied by the comic actor and Tv presenter Pino Insegno.
Music, entertainment, comedy and fun fill the live ‘L’anno che verrà’ show from 9 PM – immediately following President Napolitano's New Year greetings - until 1 AM, thrilling the live and home audiences with a line-up of guest stars and performances. Over the years, the show that has become a must for tourists, locals and television audiences, with growing popularity and record-breaking numbers: with peaks of 50 thousand people in Piazzale Fellini, more than 6 million viewers throughout Italy (about 12 million at midnight) and 500 open hotels. A significant promotional event for Rimini and the Riviera which have become one of Italy’s hottest New Year's destinations.
On 31st December, public buses will run more frequently and free-of-charge from 8.30pm to 2am for all those who want to reach the New Year's parties. On January 1st the service will start running again from 7.30 am.
The December 31st show is only the culmination of the rich line-up of events held over the Christmas holidays in Rimini. Even this year Rimini steps up to the plate with exciting holiday proposals. Thousands of visitors will flock to the two life-sized Nativity scenessculpted in the sand on the Torre Pedrera and Piazzale Boscovich beaches and to the giant indoor ice - skating rink at Rimini's port. Following tradition, Rimini will be the only city in Italy to start the new year at the opera. This year, one of the world’s most famous operas takes the stage: Bizet’s masterpiece, Carmen.
From Marina Centro to the old city centre, Christmas in Rimini offers something for everyone, starting with the dual exhibit in Castel Sismondo that puts Rimini in the international artistic limelight with 100 works by Monet, Gauguin, Degas and Cézanne along with Caravaggio’s masterpiece “St. Francis of Assisi in Ecstasy” and thirteen other significant paintings by seventeenth century artists. A once in a lifetime chance you can’t miss which, along with the other events reserved to new Rimini City Pass tourism-cultural card holders, the special City Museum and Domus holiday invitation and the Christmas markets in Piazza Cavour, Piazza Tre Martiri and Vecchia Pescheria, decks out the city with holiday spirit. The holiday season officially opens on November 27th when the spectacular Christmas lights set the old city, the boroughs and the Marina ablaze.
PROGRAMME:
October 23, 2010 – March 27, 2011
Rimini, Castel Sismondo
‘Parigi gli anni meravigliosi. Impressionismo contro Salon’ - Paris: the Wonderful Years. Impressionism versus the Salon
‘Caravaggio e altri pittori del Seicento’ - Caravaggio and Other Seventeenth-Century Painters
An enchanting collection of over 100 works that puts Rimini in the international artistic limelight. Through about ninety works borrowed from museums and private collections throughout the world, the former extraordinary exhibit intends to explore the fantastic period in art history when Paris became the centre of the world. The latter revolves around Caravaggio’s masterpiece “Saint Francis of Assisi in Ecstasy" and thirteen other significant seventeenth century paintings on loan from the Hartford Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art.
Open: Monday to Friday: 9 AM – 7 PM, Saturday and Sunday: 9 AM – 8 PM
Closed December 24, 25 and 31, 2010, January 1, 2011: 10 AM – 8 PM
For reservations and information: telephone 0039 0422.429999, www.lineadombra.it
October 23, 2010 – March 27, 2011
City of Rimini
Rimini City Pass
If you want to discover the city’s cultural treasures or visit the once in a lifetime exhibits at Castel Sismondo, take advantage of the special initiative introduced by Rimini Municipality. The 5 Euro Rimini City Pass tourism-cultural card lets you travel on public city buses for free, gives you free admission to the City Museum and the archaeological site “Domus del Chirurgo “, special discounts on City Museum guided tours and admission to other museums in the province. The Rimini City Pass kit also includes a special guide to the city’s historic and artistic heritage.
Every Sunday (3 PM) during the 2010 Castel Sismondo great Exhibits, the City Museums are offering new tours: from the Domus del Chirurgo (the surgeon’s house) to the Sigismondo Court and the seventeenth century painters, exploring Rimini's rich historic and artistic heritage captured in the City, the Domus and the Museum. The Domus and City Museum are the starting points of a journey from the Roman times to the Malatesta period leading to the art of great seventeenth century painters (Cagnacci, Centino, Guercino, etc). The tour continues through the city and its iconic monuments, from the Arch of Augustus to the Sigismondo Temple.
Every Sunday at 3 PM
Starting point: City Museum
Tour lasts 2.5 hours; ticket price 4.50 €
For reservations: tel. 0541 704421-26.
Info: tel 0039 0541 53399, www.riminicitypass.it
November 27, 2010 – January 6, 2011
historic centre, waterfront, boroughs
Lucincittà
The historic centre of Rimini, the boroughs and the Marina will sparkle in the new and warm holiday colours, music and cheer. The Christmas spirit permeates the city’s squares that host the traditional Christmas markets.
December 4, 2010– January 30, 2011
Piazzale Boscovich
Rimini Ice Village
Don your skates and join the fun at the indoor ice-skating rink on the beach! For the fourth year in a row, the port of Rimini hosts a nine hundred square metre ice rink with room for figure skating fans. Skating instructors will teach children to glide on the ice in a special area reserved just for them.
Free admission (skate rental and rink admission at a fee)
Open: Mondays – Fridays: 2:30 PM – 7 PM and 8:30 PM – 11 PM. Weekends and holidays: 9:30 AM – 12:30 PM, 2:30 PM – 7 PM and 8 PM – 11:30 PM. Mornings from 9 - 12 upon reservation. Skate school 4 PM - 6 PM. Open December 19 - January 6: 9-12,30; 14,30-19; 20–23,30.
Info: tel 0039 331.5224196, www.giemmefun.it
December 5, 8, 12, 19, 26 and January 1, 2 and 6
Piazza Ferrari/ via Tonini 1
Celebrate with Domus and Museum
An invitation to discover the archaeology and art of a city that boasts ancient origins. The site “Domus del Chirurgo” and the City Museum open their doors with guided tours to the archaeological site that brought to light a surgeon’s house with the largest collection of Roman surgical instruments ever unearthed.
Reservations required: tel. 0039 0541 21482
Domus tour: 11 AM and 3:15 PM
New Year’s Day: 4 PM
Tour price: 3 €
December 7, 2010 – January 9, 2011
Marina Centro -Piazzale Boscovich, Torre Pedrera - 64 and 65 beaches
Rimini, the city of sand cribs
Rimini’s beaches are the stage for the most spectacular and glorious sculpted sand nativity scenes you’ve ever seen. A unique Christmas experience awaits you on the Marina Centro and Torre Pedrera beaches where cribs with life-sized sculptures can be admire by the public. Gastronomic fairs and entertainment for children are also held alternatively during the holidays.
Free admission
December 31, 2010, 9 PM
Rimini, Piazzale Fellini
L’anno che verrà - the new year to come
New Year’s show on the square
Free admission
January 1, 5:30 PM
January 3, 8.30 PM
Auditorium Palacongressi, via della Fiera 52
Carmen
Following tradition, Rimini will be the only city in Italy to start the new year at the opera. This year, one of the world’s most famous operas takes the stage: Georges Bizet’s masterpiece, Carmen.
Entrance fee
info www.corogallirimini.it