Rome: Progressive Nation, 27 October 2009

Progressive Nation, one of the most awaited events by those who have a passion for music, in particular for progressive metal, is coming to Italy!

Born of an idea by Mike Portnoy, the drummer of Dream Theater, one of the most representative progressive metal bands, who wanted to give birth to a music festival dedicated to the more progressive side of hard rock and metal, Progressive Nation is an event that gathers on the same stage Dream Theater and other important bands, who are not chosen because of their popularity or commercial success, but in virtue of their originality, uniqueness and musicianship. The first Progressive Nation tour has taken place in 2008 in various American cities, with the participation of bands like Opeth, Between the Buried and me and 3, while the second edition of the festival has taken place this year with a different line-up: besides Dream Theater, the large audience of the show has enjoyed the performances of Zappa plays Zappa, Scale the Summit and Bigelf. And to make also overseas fans happy, this year Progressive Nation will take place in Europe, too: the tour will kick off in Helsinki on the 23rd of September and end in Ljubljana on the 31st of October, with dates in many countries of the old continent: in Italy Progressive Nation will be held in 4 cities: Milan (26th of October), Rome (27th of October), Bologna (29th of October) and Conegliano (30th of October). If you are planning to travel to Rome or to another of these Italian cities, now you have one more reason to do that!

Besides Dream Theater, the protagonists of the European Progressive Nation will be Opeth, Bigelf, and Unexpected: all these bands are different from each other, although they have all be influenced by progressive metal. Book 3 stars hotels in Rome and grab the chance to enjoy the performance of Swedish Opeth, who play a music genre in which Scandinavian death metal meets progressive metal, progressive rock and even folk, jazz and blues. Also the Bigelf play a very peculiar kind of music, and also thanks to the intense interpretations of the singer their live performances are very special. Canadian Unexpected can be considered as a cauldron that gives space to everything, from various forms of metal (death, progressive, melodic…) to a number of other music genres, from ambient to medieval music.

However, the most awaited band, the band that will convince many fans from all over Italy to book a youth hostel in Rome, is certainly Dream Theater, who will play also the songs of their latest album, Black Blouds & Silver Linings: released this year in June , it debuted at #6 on Billboard's Top 200 album chart, the best result ever achieved by the band. None of their records, indeed, had succeeded in entering the top ten chart. Do not miss their concert: Dream Theater members are proficient musicians, and their concerts are famous also because they pay a lot of attention to the songs they play, in order to ensure a unique and unrepeatable concert every time.


Tickets: various prices
Date: 27th October 2009
Location: Palalottomatica, Rome, Italy


This article was written by Francesca Tessarollo with support from accommodation booking system. For any information, please visit 3 stars hotels in Rome or for travel information have a look to youth hostel.

Rome: International Film Festival, 15 – 23 October 2009

Also this year Rome is ready to welcome the great Italian and international cinema, with the fourth edition of the International Film Festival.

The International Rome Film Festival will take place from the 15th to the 23rd of October in various venues and cinemas all around Rome (the headquarters of the event will be, as usual, the Auditorium Parco della Musica), which will host the screening of over 130 films, documentaries and short films. Such a big offer will certainly satisfy the great number of cinema lovers that have purchased about 20,000 tickets after the first week of pre-sale, and that will probably book 2 stars hotels in Rome, a city that now can offer something more to its tourists. The secret of the success of the festival, which makes it differ from other film festivals, is to be found in the variety of its programme, which includes both cultured and popular films, both works realised by emerging artists and movies featuring great international stars. And the festival, indeed, does not attract only those who have a passion for the seventh art, but also those people that cannot be described as the regulars of film festivals, and who might decide to travel to Rome for reasons other than watching films.

The films projected during the Rome festival are traditionally divided in different categories: besides the official selection, which includes those films that compete for Marc’Aurelio Awards (best film, best actor, best actress, Silver Marc’Aurelio Grand Jury Award), very interesting is also the section “L’altro cinema – Extra”, this year including a retrospective dedicated to Meryl Streep, the great American actress that has delighted and touched us with her brilliant performances, and who will be awarded the Golden Marc'Aurelio Acting Award during the festival, and a retrospective dedicated to Luigi Zampa (do not miss the screening of the restored version of “La Romana”, Zampa’s 1954 film starring Gina Lollobrigida). The section “Alice nella città”, including 12 films dedicated to children and kids, can be seen as a little festival inside the festival, in which budding film lovers will not be passive spectators, on the contrary, they will play an active role, awarding prizes to the best works. Last but not least, the section “Occhio sul mondo” will give visitors, who usually choose discount accommodation, the possibility to deal with some important nowadays issues. This year the focus will be on environment, with particular attention on climate change.

To make the programme of the event even richer and more diversified, many special events will take place during the festival: from the concert of Avion Travel, who will pay homage to Nino Rota 30 years after his death, playing 14 pieces taken from the soundtracks of some great movies, to various exhibitions (including one exhibition dedicated to Sergio Leone, one dedicated to Antonio Ligabue, and the exhibition “Cape Farewell: Art and Climate Change”), to a number of debates and workshops dealing with important themes about the world of cinema.


Tickets: various prices
Date: 15th – 23rd October 2009
Location: Rome, Italy


This article was written by Francesca Tessarollo with support from hotel reservation systems. For any information, please visit Travel to Rome or for travel information have a look to discount accommodation.

Rome: Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Party & Show, 14 – 18 October 2009

The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Party & Show, the greatest show in the world, finally comes to Italy!

From the 14th to the 18th of October Rome will host the first dates of the European tour of one of the most thrilling shows in the world, an event that mixes circus with interactivity, and that is characterised by the perfect match between tradition and innovation. The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Party & Show is ready to leave the United States and to arrive in the Old Continent (the show will take place not only in Italy – Rome and Milan – but also in Spain, Germany and Portugal), to delight also the children – and adults, too – of this part of the world with an amusing, unique, breath-taking show. One more reason to make cheap hotel reservations in Rome and spend some days in the eternal city, which is not hosting the first date of the European tour by accident: it was in Rome, indeed, that Feld Entertainment signed the contract to purchase the Ringling-Barnum & Bailey Circus, in 1967, and do not forget that Rome is home to the Coliseum, which is somehow considered as the first great circus of history.

However, the history of this new touring show begins long before 1967, at the end of the 19th century, with the fusion of the two entertainment companies led by James Anthony Bailey and P.T. Barnum, a fusion that soon achieved a great success. In 1907 the Barnum & Bailey Circus was purchased by the Ringling Bros., but it went on organising its shows independently until 1919, when it merged with the Ringling Bros. Circus. Since 1919 the circus, which has hosted also many well-known people (Buffalo Bill, just to make an example), has achieved a great success and has become famous all over the world, and is now ready to make its debut in Italy with the “Circus & Party Show”, a show that has already been seen by 1,200,000 people in just two years (it was held for the first time in West Palm Beach, Florida, in 2007), and which will certainly be sold out also in Italy (book now a discount guest house in Rome, to be sure not to miss the event).

The main feature of this new show is the fusion of typical circus performances, which keep fascinating both children and adults, with new ingredients, which make the show keep pace with the times: besides clowns, stilt walkers, trapeze artists and exotic animals, the tourists who will travel to Rome will enjoy the performances of a daredevil cyclist and sensational motorcyclists. And this is not all: as the title of the event suggests, the event is not only a “show”, but also a real “party” for the audience: if you arrive half an hour before, you will have the possibility to live a real circus experience, wearing circus costumes and discovering the secrets of circus artists.


Tickets: various prices
Date: 14th – 18th October 2009
Location: Palalottomatica, Rome, Italy


This article was written by Francesca Tessarollo with support from online hotel reservation system. For any information, please visit discount guest house in Rome or for travel information have a look to travel to Rome.

Rome: Organic Fair, 15 – 18 October 2009

From the 15th to the 18th of October Rome will host the 4th edition of Biofiera (Organic Fair), a big event entirely dedicated to organic products.

Organic farming, green building, biotextiles, bioconstruction, biocosmetics and bioenergy are certainly expanding fields, which should be more and more supported to give us and future generations a cleaner world, sustainable development and a healthier lifestyle. The Organic Fair that has taken place in Rome, Parco della Resistenza, since 2006, is a big chance for all those who want to learn something more about all the features of this fields, and who would like to know how to improve their life starting from small things, like food and self care. And there is no better place than Italy’s capital city to get in touch with the “bio” world: Italy, indeed, is the leading country in Europe as far as bio-production is concerned (over 1/3 of bio-firms in Europe are Italian), while in the world chart it is at the 3rd place, preceded only by Australia and Argentina; moreover Latium is the Italian region with the highest consumption of organic products. If you book a 4 stars hotel in Rome from the 15th to the 18th of October you will have the chance not only to visit the wonderful monuments and buildings of the city, but also to discover the good products which contribute in making Italy famous all over the world, and to understand that it is possible, through simple devices, to improve our life.

Like every year, the tourists who travel to Rome will have the possibility to visit a number of stalls or to have a break in the refreshment areas, which are all dedicated to organic products, and to enjoy high-quality, and above all healthy, food and wine. One of the aim of the fair, indeed, is promoting, since childhood, a healthy lifestyle, which cannot exist without a balanced diet. Not only food, though: the fair will deal with many other fields, and if you rent holiday apartments in Rome and visit the fair you will have the possibility to take part in debates and meetings and to visit exhibitory spaces dedicated to green building (which uses natural materials and eliminates indoor sources of pollution) and to bioconstruction (buildings compatible with the environment in which they rise). Particularly interesting are also the spaces dedicated to biotextiles and biocosmetics (body care and beauty products realised only with natural ingredients), which attract above all women, but not only them. Last but not least, do not miss the stalls dedicated to organic farms, which follow the rules of organic farming, and to bioenergy (energy from organic material).

The fair is meant as an informative space, but it will also feature many entertaining and amusing events, some of them dedicated to children, too: with games, educational workshops and shows, the fair will turn into a huge party which will give children the possibility to discover the organic world and have fun at once.


Tickets: free event
Date: 15 – 18 October 2009
Location: Parco della Resistenza, Rome, Italy



This article was written by Francesca Tessarollo with support from free booking software. For any information, please visit 4 stars hotels in Rome or for travel information have a look to Holiday apartments in Rome.