Charity & Artisan Events Return for the Holiday Season

Christmas is a time for giving. With this in mind, several holiday markets will return to Florence this season despite the Covid emergency, allowing shoppers to support local artisans and also make purchases that raise funds for charities. Although the typical wooden stands set up in Piazza Santa Croce will not be able to return this year, organizations including Atelier, Nataleperfile, and ANT will sell gifts and bring awareness to the difficult moment we are living in.

Atelier degli Artigiani (Artisans’ Workshop) will be open every day from 10 am to 7 pm until Dec. 23 at the Antica Torre dei Tornabuoni, via Tornabuoni 1. It is recommended that you make a reservation by calling 342-6290064. They will be selling a variety of products made by local artisans including Acqua di Fiesole perfume, Luisa Ricciardelli’s handmade bags, Katia’s floral creations, DoC’s leather bags, Ilpuntaspillidiisa’s wool puppets, Azita’s precious fabrics, Eleonora Lucifero’s retro jewels, and Maghi and Maci’s children’s clothing. 

Nataleperfile will also return this season, but only be open on Sunday, December 13 from 10 am to 6 pm at Palazzo Corsini (via del Parione 11). All of their proceeds will go to the Italian Foundation of Palliative Care (FILE), which provides home care to terminally ill patients. Customers may purchase artisan panettone and pandoro, rice from the Visconti farm, Parmigiano Reggiano, and many other items beyond these delicacies. Tickets for the annual charity lottery will also occur and will be drawn on Dec. 21 at noon on Facebook. 

For those who would prefer online shopping, ANT (National Cancer Association) will be selling baskets filled with delicious Tuscan delicacies, wine, olive oil as well as poinsettias on their website ant.it/store/toscana. It is possible to create your own Christmas basket in collaboration with Sapori della Rocca at associazionetumoritoscana.it. 

Additionally, the Oxfam initiative “Wrap the present, give the future” will be set in up in the Euronics, Toys, Tigota, Bimbostore, Mondadori, and Coin stores in Florence, Arezzo, Pisa, Pistoia, Livorno, Lucca, Massa Carrara, and Siena. Volunteers will offer gift wrapping of presents brought to these locations in exchange for a small donation that will support the goals of Oxfam, a non-profit organization that helps those in poverty in over 90 countries around the world. 

This holiday season in particular it is necessary to come together in solitary to help those who are struggling during the pandemic and create a sense of community despite these months spent apart.  (elizabeth berry)

To read more in Italian, visit Florence’s La Repubblica news site.