The Festa della Repubblica Italiana (the Festival of the Italian Republic) is celebrated annually on June 2 to commemorate the birth of the Italian Republic and the fall of Fascism.
Between June 2 and 3, 1946, in wake of fascism’s demise and the end of World War II, Italians voted on the future of their governance in a referendum. Asked to choose between a monarchy and a republic, the majority of the public favored a republic, resulting in the exile of the monarchs of the House of Savoy. On May 27, 1949, three years after the referendum took place, Italian lawmakers passed Article 260 which cited June 2 as the data di fondazione della Repubblica, (the date of the founding of the Republic) and made it a public holiday.
The day is celebrated in the capital of Rome with a military parade that takes place down Via dei Fori Imperiali, a road flanked on both ends by the ruins of the ancient Roman forum that spans from the Colosseum to Piazza Venezia. The parade is presided over by the President of the Italian Republic, who assumes his role as Supreme Commander of the Armed forces, as well as the Prime Minister and other high-ranking officials of the state. The celebrations also include laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the Altare della Patria (Altar to the Fatherland), a massive white structure that crowns Piazza Venezia in Rome. The event is topped with a flyover with the Frecce Tricolori, officially known as the Pattuglia Acrobatica Nazionale (National Acrobatic Patrol), a group of nine Italian Air Force aircrafts that fly over the Altare della Patria trailing green, white, and red smoke to represent the color of Italy’s flag.
Every year, the parade has a different theme. For example, in 2004, for the 58th anniversary of the founding of the Republic, the theme was Le Forze Armate per la Patria" (The Armed Forces for the homeland); In 2011, for the 65th anniversary, it was “150º anniversario dell’Unità d’Italia" (150th anniversary of the unification of Italy).
This year’s program, celebrating the 77th anniversary of the founding of the Republic and the fall of facism, is still being defined. La Festa della Repubblica is more than just a day filled with pomp and circumstance, it’s a day of remembrance and of pride for Italians who use the celebrations to commemorate how far the country has come since 1946.
Asia London Palomba
Asia London Palomba is a trilingual freelance journalist from Rome, Italy. In the past, her work on culture, travel, and history has been published in The Boston Globe, Atlas Obscura, The Christian Science Monitor, and Grub Street, New York Magazine's food section. In her free time, Asia enjoys traveling home to Italy to spend time with family and friends, drinking Hugo Spritzes, and making her nonna's homemade cavatelli.