Footage of Italian Christmas celebrations misattributed as German farmers protest

Context

On social media, users are sharing a video of parked lit-up tractors claiming it shows German farmers protesting “government plans to put them out of business.” 

The video and claim have been shared multiple times on TikTok and Facebook, while one post on X (formerly Twitter), has amassed 2.7 million views. 

In recent weeks, German farmers have been protesting government plans to cancel tax breaks on diesel and vehicles used in the agriculture industry. 

However, the video is from a Christmas celebration in the Italian city of Villa Potenza. It is not related to the German farmers’ protests. 

In fact

By conducting a reverse image search of video keyframes on Google we found the footage shared on YouTube on December 30, 2023. Here the footage was attributed to "@f.lli_ercoli.” A Google search for that username led us to an Instagram account of the same name that shared the footage on December 27 with the hashtags #alberodinatale #tractorversion, meaning "christmas tree tractor version." According to the account bio, the user is based in the Italian region of Marche. 

Through another Google search, we found mention of a yearly tradition of the city of Villa Potenza in the Marche region where farmers come together and park their tractors, clad in Christmas lights, in the shape of a Christmas tree. 

According to the article the event takes place at the Villa Potenza Exhibition Center. Typing that into Google Maps, we find building that match those seen in the viral video. 

The buildings the Villa Potenza Exhibition Center mathes those seen in the viral video. (Source: Google/Screenshot)

On YouTube, we found more footage of last year’s event. The surrounding buildings seen in the footage match those in the video claimed to be of German farmers protesting. 

The surrounding buildings seen in the YouTube video match those in the video claimed to be of German farmers protesting. (Source: YouTube/X/Screenshots) 

On December 18, 2023, hundreds of farmers in tractors gathered in central Berlin to protest the German government’s plan to cancel tax breaks for diesel and agricultural vehicles used by farmers. In the days that followed, more protests and road blockades occurred across the country. 

The Deutscher Bauernverband (German farmers’ association) has announced nationwide demonstrations beginning on January 8. 

The verdict

The video shows an annual Christmas celebration in the Italian city of Villa Potenza where farmers park their Christmas-lit tractors and machines in the shape of a Christmas tree. It is unrelated to recent protests in Germany over canceled tax breaks. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.