A positive initiative that is going ahead during the Coronavirus emergency in Florence is “Fiori a Fiorenza,” (Flowers in Florence), a competition that will award prizes to the best photos of potted plants and flowers blooming on city terraces. Under the auspices of Florence city parks councilperson Cecilia Del Re, photos can be sent in March and April to Società Toscana di Orticultura garden club, which, by chairing a jury of specialists and [...]
Sunday, March 8: FESTA DELLA DONNA (Women’s Day). Today, it is common for women in Italy to observe the holiday by passing time together or by sharing meals with one another. At the Abetone ski resort, for couples who buy a ski pass on March 8, the woman will be granted free admission. However one chooses to observe La Festa della Donna, it remains undisputedly, a day of recognition for the political, economic, and social achievements [...]
Until July 19: TOMAS SARACENO. THERMODYNAMIC CONSTELLATION. Palazzo Strozzi courtyard. Open daily 10 am – 8 pm, on Thursday 10 am – 11 pm. Free admission. Florence is hosting an installation project, “Thermodynamic Constellation” by Tomás Saraceno, an influential artist, architect and biology scholar celebrated for bringing together science and art. Saraceno’s installation of the “Thermodynamic Constellation” is a part of Florence’s more expansive efforts towards raising public awareness for environmental issues. The [...]
Feb. 20 – 23: DANZAINFIERA. Fortezza da Basso. Open Thursday 3 – 8 pm; Friday, Saturday and Sunday 9 am – 8 pm. Admission: 1 day €18, 4 days €45; free for children under 8; €12 for 8 – 10 year olds. The four-day annual event, Danzainfiera, is the hub of all things dance in Florence. The fair brings together more than 20,000 dancers to learn, perform and compete. Dancers from novice to professional can enjoy [...]
Feb. 18 – 22: ANNA MARIA DE’ MEDICI TRIBUTE This month Florence will celebrate the legacy of Anna Maria Luisa de’ Medici by hosting a number of special events in her honor. Before her death on February 18, 1743, she willed her family’s entire collection of art and her estate to the city of Florence, on the premise that they were to never leave the city under any circumstances. Thanks to her generosity [...]
In honor of the 97th anniversary of late Franco Zeffirelli’s birth (1923-2019), the Zeffirelli Foundation museum will offer free admission to residents of Florence metropolitan area with an I.D. on February 12 from 10 am to 6 pm. The displays of Zeffirelli Foundation (piazza San Firenze 5) details the life’s work of the great Italian director and producer, almost year by year, room after room. Growing up in Florence and attending the Accademia [...]
James Conlon returns to lead the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in a program dedicated to the music of the Czech composer, Antonin Dvorak, on February 7. The concert begins with a symphonic poem ‘The Golden Spinning Wheel,’ inspired by the poem of the same name found in Kytice, a collection of folk ballads by Karel Erben. Following this is the popular Symphony No. 9 in E minor ‘From the New World.’ [...]
Raphael’s famous portraits of Angolo Doni and his wife Maddalena Strozzi are part of the Uffizi collection, and on Friday, January 31, their 517th wedding anniversary, the gallery is offering two tickets for the price of one to couples who wish to tour the museum that day. The name of this special initiative, “Festa dei Doni” (Festival of the Gifts), is also a play on last name of the historic pair depicted in [...]
Florence is commemorating the lost souls taken by the Nazis in Florence and sent to concentration camps in 1944, never to return, by commissioning approximately 50 stumbling stones (“pietre di inciampo” in Italian) for the sidewalks. A prologue to the Holocaust Remembrance Day was the placement of a number of square-shaped memorials on city streets throughout the month of January. These plaques, 10 x 10 cm (4 x 4 inches), are the same [...]
As Irish literary legend Oscar Wilde once said “The best way to make children good is to make them happy.” Considering its super fun and child oriented calendar of special events, international projects and creative productions, the upcoming Pitti Immagine Bimbo is sure to bring a smile to the young as well as the young at heart. Held mainly at Florence’s Fortezza da Basso from January 16 to 18, and open only to [...]