Rome experienced another night dedicated to culture and public participation. The sixteenth edition of the Night of Museums attracted approximately 80,000 people to Civic Museums, exhibition spaces, and cultural venues throughout the city, confirming the growing public interest in an event that continues to record increasing numbers in recent years. In 2025, 78,000 attendees were registered, while in 2024, the figure stood at 73,000. Throughout the evening, citizens, tourists, and many young people animated over seventy cultural spaces, transforming the Capital into a widespread journey through exhibitions, concerts, visits, and performances. Attendance was constant until late at night, with long queues at the entrances of the main city museums and a festive atmosphere that involved various neighborhoods.
The Success of the Civic Museums
The entire event was primarily driven by the system of Civic Museums of Roma Capitale, which alone accounted for approximately 50,000 visitors. These significant numbers confirm the central role of municipal museum structures within the event. Among the most frequented places of the evening were the Capitoline Museums and the Campidoglio area, which welcomed around 8,000 people. There was also great participation at the Museum of Rome in Palazzo Braschi, visited by about 7,000 people during the night. The Markets of Trajan – Museum of the Imperial Forums were also highly appreciated, recording approximately 3,500 admissions, and the Ara Pacis Museum, where about 3,000 people arrived. This latter space was one of the most vibrant points of the event thanks to the main musical event of the evening.
Ditonellapiaga Shines at Ara Pacis
The most anticipated event of the Night of Museums 2026 was the live performance by Ditonellapiaga at the Ara Pacis. The singer-songwriter performed in an essential and intimate version, accompanied only by voice and piano, offering the public an acoustic reinterpretation of her most famous songs. During the concert, recent pieces such as “Sì lo so” and “Hollywood” were performed, along with songs already much loved by the public such as “Chimica,” “Spreco di potenziale,” and “Repito,” taken from the album “Camouflage.” The performance concluded with “Che fastidio!”, received with enthusiasm by the audience. The event attracted hundreds of spectators and contributed to making the Ara Pacis Museum one of the symbolic places of this edition.
Culture Spreads Across the City
Participation was not limited to the Civic Museums. Many other Roman cultural spaces that joined the initiative also recorded significant numbers and strong public involvement. Among the most relevant data is that of the Sapienza University of Rome Museum Pole, which exceeded 8,000 attendees during the evening. There was also good attendance for the Palazzo Esposizioni Roma, visited by approximately 2,500 people. The rich program of events distributed throughout the city attracted mainly the younger public, who participated in large numbers in the proposed activities. Concerts, extraordinary openings, and cultural itineraries transformed the Night of Museums into an opportunity for meeting and socializing, as well as artistic discovery.
Institutions: “Culture Excites”
Satisfaction was also expressed by the Councilor for Culture of Roma Capitale, Massimiliano Smeriglio, who highlighted the constant growth of the event and the strong response from the Roman public. According to Smeriglio, the figure of 80,000 attendees demonstrates how much culture can still engage and create participation. The Councilor particularly emphasized the success of the Civic Museums and the growing interest recorded in recent months also by the Capitoline Museums. In commenting on the results of the event, Smeriglio also stressed that culture today represents not only entertainment but also a tool for reflection, participation, and collective sharing. The Night of Museums 2026 thus concludes with record numbers and the confirmation of an event that has now become a stable fixture among the most followed cultural events in the Capital.
