Castel Sant’Angelo hosts final festival show on 4 October

Castel Sant’Angelo in Rome is hosting the final event of L’Angelo e la luna on 4 October 2026, concluding a festival of contemporary circus, dance, music and theatre at the monument. The programme is taking place inside the historic fortress, also known locally as Castel Sant’Angelo, with the closing performance scheduled for 9pm.

L’Angelo e la luna ends at Castel Sant’Angelo on 4 October

The festival runs from 2 July to 4 October 2026 and is promoted by the Istituto Pantheon e Castel Sant’Angelo - Direzione Musei nazionali della città di Roma. Curated by Anna Selvi, it brings 15 shows and 41 performances by Italian and international artists to Rome.

The programme includes concerts, theatre, dance, itinerant performances and contemporary circus. The final event is Francesco, l’Angelo degli ultimi, presented by Massimo Verdastro with harp accompaniment by Dario Guidi. The performance recounts the figure of Saint Francis of Assisi through stories of people who met or remembered him. The festival’s official programme places the performance at Castel Sant’Angelo on 4 October 2026.

The organisers have used several parts of the monument during the season, including the Court of Alexander VI, the Paolina Room, the San Matteo Bastion, the Apollo Room, the Angel Courtyard and the panoramic terrace. The festival therefore extends beyond a conventional auditorium, placing the final performance within a building whose rooms reflect several centuries of changing use.

Castel Sant’Angelo connects a mausoleum with a museum

The building was constructed in the second century AD as a mausoleum for the Roman emperor Hadrian and his family. It was later incorporated into Rome’s city walls and transformed into a fortified structure. Its history also includes use as a papal residence, prison, military prison and barracks.

After entering the Italian state’s property in 1870, the monument became a national museum in 1925. That layered history gives L’Angelo e la luna a specific setting: the festival’s contemporary performances are staged across spaces that once served imperial, defensive, religious and custodial functions. The Ministry of Culture’s museum record identifies the site as fortified architecture and places it at Lungotevere Castello 50 in Rome.

Evening performances use the monument’s historic rooms

The festival’s official schedule also links the site to Hadrian’s mausoleum through a theatre work about the emperor. Later performances have used dance, music and circus to reinterpret the building’s rooms, while the 4 October event turns to a religious and artistic portrait of Saint Francis.

For travellers, the date matters because the final performance falls within the current visit period rather than representing a general seasonal recommendation. The museum’s programme states that extraordinary evening openings run from 7.30pm to 11.30pm, with last entry at 10.30pm, although the performance itself begins at 9pm.

Visiting Castel Sant’Angelo: what travellers from Western Europe should know

• L’Angelo e la luna ends on 4 October 2026 at Castel Sant’Angelo, with Francesco, l’Angelo degli ultimi beginning at 9pm.
• The performance is inside the monument and is included with the museum ticket when the museum plus performance option is selected; access is subject to available places.
• The venue is at Lungotevere Castello 50 in Rome, beside the Tiber and near the Vatican area. The museum record identifies the address as the site’s official location.
• The monument contains historic ramps, courtyards, bastions and rooms, so the route includes varied interior and exterior spaces rather than a single level.
• Italian is the official language and the currency is the euro.

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Frequently asked questions about Castel Sant’Angelo

When does L’Angelo e la luna take place at Castel Sant’Angelo?

The festival runs from 2 July to 4 October 2026, with its final performance on 4 October 2026 at 9pm.

What is Castel Sant’Angelo?

It is a Roman monument that began as Emperor Hadrian’s mausoleum in the second century AD and became a national museum in 1925.

Where is Castel Sant’Angelo and how do you get there?

It is at Lungotevere Castello 50 in Rome, beside the Tiber and close to the Vatican area.