Italy’s Liberation Day (Festa della Liberazione), also known as the Anniversary of the Liberation (Anniversario della liberazione d’Italia), Anniversary of the Resistance (anniversario della Resistenza), or simply April 25 is a national Italian holiday commemorating the end of the second world war and the end of Nazi occupation of the country.

Liberation Day (Festa della Liberazione) remembers Italians who fought against the Nazis and Mussolini’s troops during World War II. (Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party from 1922 to 1943. He then led the Italian Social Republic in parts of Italy that were not occupied by Allied forces from 1943 to 1945.) The day honors those who served in the Italian Resistance. Marching bands, music concerts, food festivals, political rallies, and other public gatherings take place in many places in Italy.

The date was chosen by convention, as it corresponds to the day Milan and Turin were liberated, on April 25, 1945. This was also the day when the National Liberation Committee of Upper Italy (CLNAI) officially proclaimed the insurgency in a radio announcement, announcing the seizure of power by the CLNAI and the death sentence for all fascists (including Benito Mussolini, who was shot three days later).