10 Events and Exhibitions not to be missed in August 2025 in Milan

In August, Milan transforms into a diffuse stage, vibrant with art, history and contemporary visions. From silent courtyards to buzzing piazzas, every corner tells a new emotion. “10 Must-See Events and Exhibitions in August 2025 in Milan” is your passport to experiencing the city like you've never seen it before.

What are you waiting for? Let us guide you and discover what Milan has in store for you!

Milan, in this August 2025, is more alive than ever: an interweaving of memory, experimentation and expressive freedom that embraces art, film, music and history. With this list of 10 Must-See Events and Exhibitions in August 2025 in Milan we will take you among immersive installations, arenas under the stars and exhibitions that speak to the heart and conscience. It's the perfect time to discover a city that never ceases to surprise.

Follow the rhythm of summer and get inspired!

The enchantment of cinema under the stars returns again this summer with AriAnteo 2025, the beloved festival that transforms Milan into a big screen under the open sky. From May 31 to September 28, four iconic venues in the city - CityLife, Fabbrica del Vapore, Palazzo Reale and the striking Chiostro dell'Incoronata - welcome spectators of all ages to experience the magic of the big screen together, under the soft light of summer evenings.

The programming is rich and engaging: great Italian and international titles, unmissable premieres and auteur films to be rediscovered. From the thrills of Özpetek and Genovese, to the visionary worlds of Wes Anderson, each evening is a different journey.

Whether you want to catch up on a lost film or be surprised by new stories, AriAnteo is the place where cinema meets the city and its most beautiful nights.

Don't miss it: in Milan, May 31 to September 28, 2025.

A cry of love and resistance runs through the rooms of PAC - Padiglione d'Arte Contemporanea in Milan, with I Only Want You To Love Me, the first major anthological exhibition dedicated to Lovett/Codagnone, the artistic duo formed by John Lovett and Alessandro Codagnone, who passed away in 2019. It is an exhibition that delves into intimacy and exposes it, laying bare the tensions between desire and power, love and control, in private life as well as in social structures. Through photographs, videos, performances, installations and sounds, Lovett/Codagnone's radical universe takes shape in an original journey.

Balancing poetry and provocation, the works in the exhibition-many of them previously unpublished-return the full force of a language that is both art and political act. From July 4 to Sept. 14, 2025, let yourself be traversed by this powerful and necessary experience at Milan's PAC, Via Palestro 14.

Bergamo is transformed into a diffuse work of art with Seasons, Maurizio Cattelan's striking new exhibition. Not a traditional exhibition, but a journey through four iconic places in the city, where seasons become metaphors for life, death and rebirth.

With his cutting irony and relentless gaze, Cattelan takes us on a profound reflection on our time. Seasons is a rare opportunity to see art come out of museums and inhabit the city, questioning what we see and, more importantly, what we choose to ignore. Don't miss it: from June 7, 2025, at three venues in Bergamo: Ex Oratorio di San Lupo; GAMeC; Palazzo della Ragione.

“Fleas More Than Before, Now” is more than an exhibition: it is a silent and vibrant appeal, an emotional map that invites us to get lost in the hidden folds of resistant memory. On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the Liberation, artist Valerio Eliogabalo Torrisi meets the archives of the House of Memory in Milan to transform each work into an act of resistance.

Through visual, sound and participatory installations, Torrisi gives body and voice to submerged stories. It is an invitation to hear “fleas everywhere”: a metaphor for a contemporary condition haunted by dangerous nostalgia, in which art becomes active and collective memory, a new and necessary song.

From July 5 to September 21, 2025, it awaits you in Milan, at the House of Memory (via Federico Confalonieri 14). Admission is free.

In the ancient heart of Milan, a stone's throw from the Duomo, one of the most beloved events of the summer is back: Le sere dei Mercanti. From June 27 to August 24, 2025, Piazza dei Mercanti is transformed into a 250-seat open-air cinema, where every evening the big screen meets the magic of night and history. A curated selection of films, including blockbusters, premieres, art-house cinema and timeless classics, will light up under the summer sky, accompanied by soft lighting and special guests that make each evening unique.

An unmissable opportunity to experience the city in a different way, among art, cinema and beauty. Merchants' Evenings await you from June 27 to August 24, 2025, in Milan's Merchants' Square.

The Milanese summer lights up with the return of I-Days 2025, the festival that makes the city vibrate with the power of great live music. After hosting legends such as Metallica, Green Day and Arctic Monkeys, the new edition promises even more overwhelming emotions: Justin Timberlake, Dua Lipa, Duran Duran, Linkin Park, Olivia Rodrigo and, in August, Post Malone (Aug. 27) are just some of the names that will set the stage on fire.

An unmissable event for those who love music and want to experience it in the beating heart of summer, among choirs, lights and shared adrenaline. Whether you are a fan of pop icons or new international voices, at I-Days there is a concert that speaks your language. Prepare your summer to the rhythm of live: from June 2 to August 27, 2025, the date is in Milan, at the Snai La Maura Hippodrome, Via Lampugnano 95.

One look at the world, one hundred forty-one different ways of telling its story: the Sony World Photography Awards 2025 arrive in Milan, bringing with them the most powerful, moving and surprising images of contemporary photography. From June 12 to September 28, 2025, the Chiostri di Sant'Eustorgio will welcome the winners of one of the world's most prestigious photography competitions. From the subtle restlessness of The Anthropocene Illusion by Zed Nelson, elected Photographer of the Year, to the rebellious portraits of Shred the Patriarchy by Italian Chantal Pinzi, the exhibition traverses landscapes, histories and cultures with sensitivity, beauty and truth.

Each shot is an open window on the perfect moment, on what often escapes the gaze but remains etched in the memory. An unmissable visual journey, between Italian and international gazes, ready to surprise you at the Diocesan Museum in Milan, until September 28, 2025.

An invitation to enter the room where the magic of cinema is born, A Kind of Language: Storyboards and Other Renderings for Cinema opens the door to a usually hidden world of sketches, notes, drawings and dreams still seeking form. In the exhibition, more than 800 works-from the earliest animated storyboards of the 1920s to the graphic visions of directors such as Fellini, Hitchcock, and Miyazaki, to the studied symmetries of Wes Anderson-tell the visual genesis of big-screen masterpieces. Curated by Melissa Harris, the exhibition guides us through the preparatory gestures of those who imagine a film before it exists.

The exhibit design by Andrea Faraguna makes us feel like privileged spectators in the creative workshop of cinema: an intense and poetic experience for those who love cinema and its invisible construction. Until September 30, 2025, the exhibition awaits you at the Fondazione Prada Observatory in the heart of Milan, at Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II.

Milan's most intimate and atmospheric summer event is back: CINEmare 2025, outdoor cinema... with headphones. Piazza Cenni di Cambiamento is transformed into a silent and magical arena, where every evening you can immerse yourself in the stories of the big screen under the stars, listening to every beat, every word, every sound with absolute clarity. It is a unique experience, perfect for those who love movies without distractions, with the charm of a quiet evening outdoors.

The program ranges from seasonal hits to art-house films, through Italian works, original language titles and small gems to be rediscovered. June 17 through Sept. 7, 2025 in Cenni di Cambiamento Square, experience cinema in a whole new way.

On summer evenings, the Cortile delle Armi of the Castello Sforzesco once again becomes an open-air stage with the 13th edition of Estate al Castello. From June 21 to Sept. 10, 2025, music, words, dance and cinema intertwine in a packed program designed for those who want to experience the Milanese summer immersed in culture and beauty.

Artists such as Drusilla Foer, Stefano Bollani, 99 Posse, Silvestri, and Gazzè, and authoritative voices such as Barbero, Recalcati, and Galimberti enliven the nights at the Castle, alongside theatrical performances, dance galas, and an evocative film arena. A festival that never ceases to surprise, in one of the most fascinating places in the city.