Your Thursday forecast: best events in Florence

Your Thursday forecast: best events in Florence

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Thu 27 Jul 2017 10:32 AM

MUSIC/Jazz Sett
July 28-30
Casa del Popolo, via di S. Romano 1, Florence (Settignano) 

The first edition of the Settignano Casa del Popolo music and food festival “Jazz Sett” comes to a close this weekend with three key events in the lineup. Rock and blues group Lady Jump Down performs their trademark soul-tinged, ’70s-inspired tunes on Friday (8.30pm). Film and music buffs will both get their fix with a screening that will follow the concert: Liz Garbus’ 2015 documentary What Happened, Miss Simone? explores the life of musical giant Nina Simone through interviews, concerts and never-before-seen video footage (dinner + concert and/or film, 12 euro). Saturday night brings the grand finale with a solo performance by renowned jazz musician Alessandro Lanzoni (dinner + concert, 15 euro; dinner only, 10 euro; concert only, 10 euro or 8 euro with ARCI membership). For more information, call 055697007 or see the Casa del Popolo’s website.

 

SPIRITED/Florence Folks Festival
July 27-30
Balera del Varlungo, via Fabrizio de’ Andre, Florence

The city gives in to its free-spirited side with the second edition of Florence Folks Festival, held in Firenze Sud in the lively Balera del Varlungo. Featuring four days of folk music, craft market stalls, meals and DJ sets (including TF’s music editor Michelle Davis aka IMDAvis, spinning on Sunday night), the event combines the atmosphere of a traditional sagra with a cosmopolitan touch. Friday night brings a highlight: direct from Uganda is DJ Rachael, the first African woman DJ selected at the global expo of world music (WOMEX) and founder of the Femme Electronic Movement (9.30pm). Her set will be followed by a live performance from Giancane, while Saturday’s program will feature Puerto Candelaria of Colombia (9.30pm) and a closing DJ set by Biga. Provisions will be offered nightly from 7.30pm with the Sagra della Violetta, La Melanzana Fiorentina (Florentine Eggplant Festival): expect plenty of purple-hued piatti. For more information, see the Facebook event.

 

LANDSCAPES/Llewelyn Lloyd
Until January 7, 2018
Villa Bardini, costa San Giorgio 2, Florence

Despite his wonderfully Welsh name, Llewelyn Lloyd was born in Livorno and a member of the Postmacchiaioli movement during the 20th century. British-Italian and best known for his landscapes (think rose-hued sunsets, seaside paintings and striking views of Florence), Lloyd came to the Tuscan capital at the turn of the 20th century and ended up adopting it as his home. The Villa Bardini exhibition brings together 62 works from various private and public collections around Italy—particularly Livorno and Florence, the cities most closely associated with the painter. Paintings on display reflect Lloyd’s interest in chromatic relationships and creating compositional balance—and the landscapes have an easy, natural complement in Villa Bardini’s lush views. For more information, see Villa Bardini’s website

 

APERITIVO/Fly Around the World
August 1, 6-9pm
FLY Fashion Loves You, borgo Pinti 20r, Florence

Grab your boarding pass and head for Borgo Pinti: emerging local leather brand Quartiere 3 has teamed up with fashion students at Florence University of the Arts, who manage the shop-learning lab-event space FLY, for a travel-inspired evening. While browsing through artisan Stefano Arrighetti’s leather creations, attendees can sample foods and traditions from North Africa, Asia, Europe and North America, witness a live manufacturing of one of Arrighetti’s products, try their hands at henna body painting or take in a calligraphy demonstration. The cherry on top? Complimentary cocktails. For more information, call 055.260209 or see FLY’s Facebook page.

 

LITERARY/Aperitivo with the Author: Baret Magarian
August 1, from 7pm
Easy Living, Spiaggetta sull’Arno, below piazza Poggi, Florence

Sand, sun and…satire? That’s right: Florence-based author Baret Magarian, who recently published the darkly comic The Fabrications (included in TF’s summer reading list), as well as the Italian short story collection Melting Point, will give a reading and presentation of the former on the Arno beach at prime aperitivo hour. Soak up some sun as you listen to pivotal passages from the novel – a borderline-fantastical tale that explores the construction of identity and celebrity through its colorful protagonist, a loafing Londoner whose life suddenly and dramatically takes a turn.  Give your Aperol Spritz a literary twist: copies of the book will be available for sale, with a drink discount offered. For more information, see the Facebook event.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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