Festa dell’Immacolata is a public holiday in Italy.
Rome marks the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on Monday 8 December – a Catholic holy day and a national public holiday in Italy – with a series of traditions and special events.
Following the midday Angelus in St Peter’s Square, Pope Leo XIV will pay homage to the Virgin Mary by making a pilgrimage to Piazza Mignanelli near the Spanish Steps at 16.00.
In a tradition dating back to 1958, the pope will leave a floral wreath at the base of the 19th-century Column of the Immaculate Conception in the piazza.
In a time-honoured tradition to mark the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, a firefighter will make the 27-metre climb to place a garland on the statue of the Madonna in Piazza Mignanelli.pic.twitter.com/X1lduuLuSx
— Wanted in Rome (@wantedinrome) December 8, 2025
Firefighters will also place a garland of flowers on the top of the 12 metre-high statue of the Madonna.
The pope’s visit to the historic centre will result in street closures and traffic restrictions in the area around the Spanish Steps during the day.
Later that evening, at 18.30, Rome mayor Roberto Gualtieri will switch on the lights on the city’s Christmas tree in Piazza del Popolo and along the city’s main thoroughfare Via del Corso.
Music will be provided by the choir school from Rome’s opera house.
The Christmas tree – decorated with hundreds of gold, silver and red baubles – leaves behind its traditional base at Piazza Venezia for the third year in a row due to Metro C subway works.
The Vatican’s Christmas tree and Nativity scene were inaugurated on Sunday evening, while the popular crib exhibition 100 Presepi opens under the colonnade in St Peter’s Square on Monday at 16.00.
Schools, public offices and many businesses in the capital will be closed on 8 December however clothes shops stay open as the day is seen as the official start of the Christmas shopping season.
The city’s Christmas market in Piazza Navona was opened by the mayor on Saturday and runs until 6 January.
From a public transport perspective, the day will mark the return of Rome’s trams, which were out of action for the past two months to facilitate infrastructure works, while the city’s free shuttle buses for Christmas shopping in the centre are up and running.
This year the festa falls on a Monday, meaning a long weekend, with around 14 million Italians expected to use the opportunity to take a short holiday, many of them visiting Christmas markets across Italy.
Cover image: Colonna dell’Immacolata Concezione, Piazza Miganelli, Rome.
