06/06/2026
Students celebrated the last day of school with water balloons, water guns, music, and group celebrations, marking the beginning of summer holidays through one of the most recognisable rituals of the school year.
These celebrations have roots in informal student traditions that developed over decades across Europe and North America, where the final day of classes became a symbolic moment of release after months of exams, routines, and academic pressure. Water fights, in particular, emerged as a playful ritual of transition: water symbolises renewal, freedom, and the passage from school obligations to summer break.
In Italy, especially in recent decades, the tradition has evolved into spontaneous gatherings outside schools and in city squares, with students using water balloons, coloured smoke, whistles, costumes, and water guns to celebrate together before the holidays.
Today, the ritual has become both a social event and a rite of passage, especially for graduating classes and teenagers ending another school year.
