On and Offline, Florence Will Celebrate St. John the Baptist

A historical pageant will take place as usual in Florence for the feast of St. John the Baptist

Wednesday, June 24 commemorates Florence’s patron city, John the Baptist (San Giovanni Battista) on his feast day (Festa di San Giovanni). A typical day would see city-wide parades, live music, and various contests. Instead, this year’s holiday will include socially distanced in-person activities and the online streaming of concerts and ceremonies. Despite safety protocols, the city has created an engaging schedule which will make this year’s festivities stand out in history, despite the pandemic. 

Multiple museums across the city will be accessible to visitors, including the Museum of the Palazzo Vecchio (10 am to 3 pm) and the Bardini Museum (3 to 8 pm), as well as the Academy Gallery (l’Accademia), which will be free to all Florence residents with a photo I.D between 9 am and 2 pm. The Museo Novecento of 20th and 21st Century Art will also be accessible from 3 to 8 pm.  Due to health regulations, visitors will have to book a visit in advance by visiting the online ticket office for Florence museums found here. 

Important destinations across the city that were previously closed due to lockdown will now be open to the public. Celebrations will start at 10:15 am with morning mass sung in the Duomo, the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore.  The Duomo will also welcome the public starting at 5:30 pm, offering a concert interpreted by the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Choir and Orchestra conducted by Zubin Mehta. At 6 pm, the teams who would normally face off in the annual competitive ball game Calcio Storico (which has been postponed to September) will lead the procession of the Florentine Republic to honor doctors, nurses, and health workers and volunteers. Shortly after at 6:30 pm, the Fiorini d’Oro award will go to health workers who have shown great bravery during the coronavirus emergency.

The Salone dei Cinquecento in Palazzo Vecchio will host the annual Strateco event which welcomes communication across channels and fields. During the day, the winner of the 2020 Sanremo Song Contest Diodato will take the stage alongside other Italian singers including Niccolò Fabi and Irene Grandi.  During the evening hours, there will be a conversation between television presenter Carlo Conti and Abbot Bernardo Gianni of the Benedictine monastic community at San Miniato al Monte.  The Bardini Gardens is offering free access to all Florence residents between 8:45 am and 8 pm, with a free snack offered to kids if accompanied by an adult.

There will also be free walking tours from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm highlighting specific symbolic places of the historic city, as well as free visits to panoramic terraces by reservation from 6 to 11 pm. In addition, the holiday will mark the opening of the contemporary art exhibition “The Wonder” at the Manifattura Tabacchi. 

By joining a  Zoom meeting (ID: 843 2559 7027, password: 5iRuy9, tune into a talk in English at 6 pm by Mark Robert entitled: “With exquisite workmanship and skill”:  Il parato di San Giovanni embroidered from designs by Antonio Pollaiolo.”   The most detailed Florentine treatment of the life of St John the Baptist is not to be found in painting or sculpture but in Renaissance embroidery panels as the lecture will detail. 

While no traditional fireworks will be set off at 10 pm to conclude the day’s celebrations, monuments will instead be illuminated with colored lights—created by Silfi Spa— including Brunelleschi’s Dome, the Basilica of San Miniato al Monte, and the Innocenti Institute in Piazza Santissima Annunziata, as well as historic city gates and towers (Porta San Gallo, Porta alla Croce, Torre di San Niccolò, Porta Romana, Porta al Prato, and Porta San Frediano).

In addition to the day’s events outlined above, there will also be virtual ceremonies available on Florence TV, the Tuscany Theater’s Youtube channel, and the Strateco Facebook page to celebrate John the Baptist. For the first time, the three Italian cities (Florence, Turin, Genoa) united by the same patron saint will be able to tune in to their local programming or RAI Premium at 9 pm to watch the night’s celebrations (La Notte di San Giovanni). 

Although this year’s program will look different than 2019, the long list of scheduled activities, in addition to other places around the city now open including the Anconella Park and kickoff 0f outdoor cinemas, will make this holiday one for the books.  (elizabeth berry)