Arts and entertainment, and not just at Christmas
From December 8th 2022 to January 8th 2023 there are many unmissable events in Messina with “The Christmas of the Rebirth”, the Christmas billboard of a wider project that intends to promote beauty by making the ancient Messene the City of Music and of Events, through territorial revitalization initiatives, which also leverage local artistic and cultural resources, with a certain continuity. The metropolitan city of Messina aims to express its potential to become a brand and cradle of music, events and entertainment.
The program of Christmas events includes concerts, shows, exhibitions, workshops, tours, markets and artistic nativity scenes. The decorated trees in the squares are also illuminated and the pedestrian area and two shuttles are established, one which connects Villa Dante to Viale San Martino and Via Santa Cecilia and the other which makes the journey from Cavallotti to Piazza Cairoli crossing some parking places to the city center.
Getting to Messina by ferry from Salerno
To get to Messina from the mainland, the Salerno – Messina ferries and vice versa can be useful, not only for those traveling by car who can head to their destination while saving physical energy while driving and fuel, but also for pedestrians departing from the lower Center and from southern Italy as a cheap alternative to the train (in the latter case, however, a lot depends on the type of accommodation you choose on board the ship). Departures every day from the port of Salerno at 14:30 with arrival at 23:30 (on Sunday there is an hour advance) and from Messina at 2:00 or 2:30 to arrive at destination after 9 hours of navigation on the route. It is worth considering this maritime link in the range of travel options. At the last link you can find useful information on the port of Salerno, while at the previous link you can see always updated dates and times of departures and calculate the cost of the sea crossing with or without pet or vehicle in tow, on deck passage, single, double, triple or quadruple seat or cabin and possibly proceed with the purchase of the ship ticket online.
The Christmas of the Rebirth
Every day, until 26 December 2022 in Piazza Cairoli there are the Christmas markets, while until 6 January 2023, from 18.00 to 20.30 in the same square and along Viale San Martino there is street theatre, pop music, pop rock, rap, blues, jazz and electronica, folk music and dance, ethnic music. Among the many events, the concert of the Immaculate Conception of Tosca, that of Matthew Lee in Piazza Duomo on December 18, the Christmas Concert for Messina in the Cathedral Basilica on December 21 with orchestra, choir and organ directed by Maestro Michele Amoroso with the participation of the soprano Chiara Taigi. On Wednesday 22nd and Thursday 23rd December the musical show “Festival Viene Natale” is scheduled in Piazza Duomo, where Nate Martin & S.I.G.N perform on the evening of 25th December. (Gospel, Soul, R&B from Chicago) as part of the group’s European tour. On December 29th there is, in Piazza Duomo, the Negramaro concert and on the evening of December 31st the “Fiesta” begins with the celebration of the New Year with the music of the Italian Orchestra of Renzo Arbore and to follow with the DJ set by Gianluca Rando. The concert by the Messina singer Alberto Urso closes the bill on January 4th.
On 14, 23 December and 6 January the Christmas Parade takes place, a parade with a musical band, Disney characters, Santa Claus in a carriage and dance schools in allegorical clothes starting from the thematic square in Via I Settembre. The Santa Claus Village is staged at Villa Dante from December 15th to January 8th; on these same dates there is the Enchanted Wood at Villa Mazzini. Friday 16th there is the “Come to the Palace” cultural evening, an itinerant tour of the institutional buildings (Palazzo Zanca, Palazzo dei Leoni, Palazzo Piacentini, Palacultura Antonello and other historic buildings). Saturday 17 December you can watch the Christmas Show in front of the church of San Matteo, with puppet theater and shows for children, and visit the Christmas Village of Altolia, also open on the 26th. On Sunday 18th at Lago Grande, the Great Lake of Ganzirri, experiential, educational and naturalistic tours and a visit to the artistic nativity scene are offered, while until the evening the city center is enlivened by a parade and by concerts. From 18 December to 6 January (except 31) the XVII Presepiale Art Exhibition is presented in the Cloisters of the Archbishopric, with an exhibition of nativity scenes, dioramas and sculptures. Tuesday 20 December in Piazza Cairoli Santa Claus and the mascots entertain adults and children by offering sweets and cotton candy, while until midnight in Santa Lucia Sopra Contesse there is the White Night of the Village with markets, Disney entertainment and DJ sets. On 23 December there is the “Miss Città dello Stretto” competition at the Palacultura. On December 25th the living nativity scene is inaugurated in the parish of Santa Maria delle Grazie in the locality of Pace and on the 26th that of Santo Stefano Medio, as well as the theatrical show in Aldisio Village. On Tuesday 27 the shows “Teatro Lumie” of contemporary circus and “Teatro Artemide Apollo” of puppets are scheduled (entrance doors to Passamonte school). Wednesday 28 is the turn of the Botanical Garden Amphitheater which hosts two theatrical performances.
And that’s not all because it continues with lots of music, but also with many other free artistic and cultural events, all scheduled at the web address eventi.comune.messina.it with times and locations of all the things to do day by day. We still point out, among others, the novenas of the itinerant pipers, the show with Christmas carols of the popular tradition, the choral and musical concerts in the churches, the “Città dello Stretto” song festival and the concert by the Baronello Orchestra at the Palacultura, Emanuele Primavera Quartet in the Sala Laudano, the Christmas concert of the folk group La Madonnina, but on the agenda there are various interesting initiatives involving the six districts of the metropolitan city of Messina.
