The venue is set by the Prefecture of the Papal Household for each date and is shown on the vatican.va calendar entry for that Wednesday, so check the entry the week before rather than assuming by season. Rain or heat can move an audience indoors, and when the Pope is traveling there is no audience that week; the September 30, 2026 audience, for example, followed his return from France. In the square there is no roof and the wait before 10:00 a.m. is in the open, which matters in July and in January.
The published text of each audience shows the structure: the catechesis in Italian, then short summaries in the main languages, then greetings to pilgrim groups. The English section is a few minutes. A ticket is free and required for seated areas in the square and for the hall; without one you can still stand at the back of the square on square days. Tickets come from the Prefecture's request portal, and large groups should request as early as the Prefecture allows.
The audience is not a Mass; the page is-a-papal-audience-the-same-as-mass explains the difference, and how-do-i-attend-a-general-audience-with-pope-leo-xiv covers the ticket steps.