25/09/2003 - An extravaganza of events is being held in the Eternal City from dusk ‘til dawn on Saturday. Cinecittà and 22 cinemas are open all night, with premieres and special prices. There’s also a trip to Fellini’s Roman film sets

Rome, an all-night cultural city. From sunset to dawn on Saturday September 27, there’ll be an extravaganza of music, dance, cinema and theatre to inject an extra pulse of life into the Italian capital. The first edition of the "Notte Bianca" (‘White Night’) will be starting from 8 o’clock on Saturday evening. This whole initiative is yet another development of Rome’s twinning with the city of Paris, following on from the introduction of boats along the Tiber and the Music Festival. There will be 12 hours worth of “out of hours” activities on offer, all free, instigated by the mayor of Rome, Walter Veltroni, in a bid to open the city up to culture and entertainment. The event started in Paris last year and it will be repeated again on October 4. The idea will also soon be introduced in Brussels.

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In Rome, the partying through the night will be taking place both in the centre and on the outskirts of the city. There will be free transport running all through the night and there will be more than 100 special events held in various parts of the city: Centre-Trastevere, Cinecittà, Ostiense-Testaccio, Ponte Milvio-North Rome, Eur-Garbatella-Ostia, Villa Borghese-Parioli, the Tiber and venues used for the "Paris in Rome" exhibition. Film buffs will be able to take their pick from 22 cinemas open throughout the night (see the listing of cinemas and programmes) with premieres and special ticket prices, while Cinecittà will be hosting visits to the sets of the latest films to have been made in its studios..

Saturday night also sees the start of Rome’s extensive tribute to Federico Fellini, with the review called "Romarcord". During the night there will be a trip to all the places in the capital the director used as film sets. To help sift your way through the mountain of events on offer, we advise you to have a look at the official website for this special night of cultural delights in Rome: www.lanottebianca.it

(Translated from Italian)