A summer evening in Rome is one of those moments when the world gets it together perfectly — the place, the light, the sultry air cooling slightly after the afternoon’s heat, the wafting aromas of pine and jasmine and chopped basil, the long, tanned limbs, the drone of cicadas and scooters, the sound of fountains, the promise of something beautiful round every corner.

To celebrate the great good fortune of being in Rome in summer, the city has created an extraordinary summer festival, now in its 32nd year. Known simply as Estate Romana, or Roman Summer, it is an umbrella organisation, drawing together a host of individual summer festivals to form a kind of urban Glastonbury without the tents or the smell.

Until late September, the city heaves with open-air events as Romans take to the streets, parks, ruins, piazzas and river banks to savour and enjoy that most perfect conjunction of time and place — Rome on a summer’s evening.

THE RUINS

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Built by Augustus for his favourite nephew in the first century AD, the ­Teatro di Marcello — follow the Via del Teatro di Marcello from the Piazza Venezia — is the setting for a concert series rather like the Proms that runs until the end of September. One highlight this summer is the great Japanese pianist Hiroshi Takashu on August 15. Performances are at 8.30pm. Arrive half an hour early for a guided tour of the ruins. As part of this programme, concerts are also held in the quirky Casina delle Civette, in the grounds of the Villa Torlonia, in the Nomentana district.

00 39 348 780 4314; tempietto.it; £15

THE RACETRACK

Rome’s International Festival of Latin-American Music and Culture (fiesta.it) is held in the Ippodromo delle Capannelle, on the Via Appia Nuova, a racetrack just to the south of the city, transformed for the summer into a vast open-air club with restaurants, bars and shopping. The programme runs until August 15, and highlights include Oscar d’Leon (July 2), the Puerto Rican salsa singer Gilberto Santarosa (July 8), and Issac Delgado with salsa queen La India (July 23). Some nights, the venue shifts gear to host the Rock in Roma festival — UB40 (June 30), Marlene Kuntz (July 4), the Killers, Franz Ferdinand and White Lies (July 14), and Nine Inch Nails, TV on the Radio and Animal Collective (July 22).

; tickets from £17. Take Metro A to Colli Albani, then the 664 bus

THE THREE PARKS

Villa Doria Pamphili: a series of music and dance events from June 29 to July 27, with more than a touch of the avant-garde, in the grounds of Rome’s most splendid park. Children will enjoy The Little Prince on July 3.

00 39 06 581 6987, iconcertinelparco.it; from £8

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