From 6 December, 'Christmas in the places of the soul': in the city centre, the 'Forest under a sky of stars' with an 11-metre tree, and among the novelties is Santa's House in the grottoes.
In Santarcangelo di Romagna, Christmas is an experience of light, emotion, and sharing.
The 2025 edition will kick off on Saturday 6 December with the traditional lighting of the illuminations and the new large Christmas tree, which will light up the heart of the historic centre, officially kicking off the festivities.
Once again this year Santarcangelo's Christmas will be intertwined with the film festival "I Luoghi dell'Anima" (10-14 December 2025), in a combination of festive magic, cinema and culture.
The programme offers a rich calendar of appointments designed for young and old:
- Markets and nativity scenes that tell the story of tradition,
- Animations and workshops in Santa's new home,
- Artistic and cultural events linked to the festival and city initiatives.
The streets and squares of Santarcangelo will be illuminated by a veritable firmament of lights, transforming the historic centre into an evocative place where tradition and contemporary creativity meet.
The main novelty of 2025 will be the "Bosco sotto un cielo di stelle" ("Forest under a sky of stars"), an urban installation made up of a pathway of Christmas trees that will lead from the caves to the Combarbio, where Santarcangelo's new Christmas tree will be placed: an 11-metre tall white fir tree from the Casentino Forests, where it had been destined for controlled felling as part of the plan to care for and maintain the health of the centuries-old forest.
The tree, along with the rest of the historic centre, will be illuminated by thousands of low-energy lights and will shine thanks to a new lighting design conceived to evoke the magic of a starry sky, suspended above the village streets.
In addition to the new tree, this year Santarcangelo's caves will host Father Christmas's House for the first time. An enchanted path, where every step will bring the magic of childhood closer: to welcome visitors there will be Father Christmas himself, ready to receive the little ones' letters.