Over 2 million estimated at this year’s Notte Rosa

Rimini returns to normal, or at least as ‘normal’ as it gets during the summer (where there are festivals and events planned from June through to September), after Saturday night’s Notte Rosa festival – and some of the statistics are coming in about the night.

An incredible 2 million people (according to the Resto del Carlino newspaper) are estimated to have partied the night through along the 110km of coast line, with concerts from Beky Bay in Bellaria Igea Marina through to headline events in Rimini (Fiorella Mannoia and Morgan) and artists like Franco Battiato in Riccione, and Italy’s most succesful band abroad PFM in Cattolica.

For my part, I strolled around the city of Rimini through Friday night’s preview events, Saturday afternoon’s preparations (including on the beach where two hardy souls struggled to set up two gigantic balloons which, later on, would be lit pink to signal a spot where people could safely bathe after the midnight fireworks), and on into the night’s events.

The thing that constantly surprises me about the Notte Rosa (pink night – or Summer’s New Year’s Eve – call it what you want) is how everybody fits into it. Walking down to the beach to enjoy the amazing choreographed fireworks display, I met families with toddlers in buggies, young couples starry eyed, hen and stag parties getting geared up for the small hours, pensioners taking a bit of night air – and all under a magnificent skyline tinted pink thanks to the thousands of shaded light bulbs and spotlights along the seafront.

It’s an amazing spectacle – and what’s perhaps more amazing is how few foreign tourists there are at it. The majority of visitors were Italian – as the Notte Rosa appears to still be a well kept secret abroad.

An amazing night – highly recommended. Keep tuned to visit-rimini.com for details of next year’s event which will, no doubt, be announced in the coming months.