Almost all holidays are on Sunday (including Saint Francis): only one true “bridge” possible for the Immaculate Conception. Here’s when we return to class and the complete calendar region by region
A year without “bridges”. The 2026-2027 school calendar already promises to be one of those destined to provoke discussion among students, “victims of the curse of missed bridges”. The reason is simple: practically all holidays fall on Sunday, making the school year less “interrupted” than usual. And also the new feast (St. Francis on October 4th) which debuts in the new school year… it’s on Sunday! Only one real bridge, but the Regions will be able to intervene and therefore some corrective measures, as Veneto did, are still possible.
School year 2026-2027: a year without bridges (or almost)
If there is a common thread in the upcoming school year, it is calendar misfortune. Many of the main holidays will in fact fall on Sunday, effectively canceling any possibility of extending the weekends. The national feast of Saint Francis of Assisi on October 4th, All Saints Day (November 1st) and April 25th, Liberation Day, are on Sunday. The result? A year very poor in “natural” breaks. May Day doesn’t help either, because in 2027 it will fall on a Saturday. The only real occasion for a long weekend will be the Immaculate Conception on December 8, which falls on a Tuesday: a configuration that could favor the closure of schools even on the previous Monday, not only in Milan where Sant’Ambrogio is. For the rest, the calendar flows without too many interruptions, with a rather “low” Easter (28 March 2027), which concentrates the spring holidays but leaves no room for further breaks.
When we return to class in September: all the dates region by region
On the return to school front, as always, the lead will be the students of the autonomous province of Bolzano, who will return to school on 7 September 2026. Immediately afterwards, on 10 September, it will be the turn of Valle d’Aosta, Veneto and the Province of Trento, while Lombardy has set the start date for 12 September, with possible adjustments linked to the fact that the date falls on a Saturday. Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Umbria will leave on 14 September. In most other regions — including Lazio, Tuscany, Sicily and Emilia-Romagna — the start is expected around the middle of the month, while Puglia goes later, until September 17. Some calendars are still being defined, but the general framework is now outlined. The end of lessons also varies: for example in Lazio and Lombardy it is already set for 8 June 2027 while in Sicily it will arrive on 10 June.
School year 2026-2027: the Christmas holidays, Easter and the rhythm of the year
It will be a year lacking in long weekends, but the traditional holidays will obviously be there. The Christmas holidays will be concentrated between the end of December and the Epiphany, with slight regional differences: in Lazio, for example, from 23 December to 6 January, in Veneto from 24 December to 5 January, in Sicily until 7 January. For Easter, scheduled for March 28, 2027, the break will generally be between March 25 and 30. The rest of the calendar will be marked mostly by “dry” holidays and the day of the local patron saint, without any particular possibility of extending the breaks.
Veneto’s move: more stops to compensate for the school year without bridges
A school year without bridges? The Veneto Region has decided to “build” some additional suspensions to compensate. In addition to the stop between 30 October and 2 November for All Saints’ Day, the Venetian calendar includes the long weekend of 7 December, the Christmas holidays from 24 December to 5 January and a series of breaks distributed throughout the year: from Carnival (8-10 February) to the Sports Days (11-13 February), up to the spring breaks between the end of April and the beginning of June.
