Though everyone says September is the best month to visit Italy, The Florentine staff believes that May is the most interesting time to visit Florence and discover Tuscany. What’s not to love? The city is both more relaxed and livelier. People dress lighter. The sweet spring air suggests the pleasures of food and wine, and we start living outside. Cafés and restaurants set up tables on patios, piazzas and streets. Friends and family linger at parties in farmhouses, courtyards and secret gardens.
Out of town, in the green Tuscan countryside, the flowering pastures covered with poppy-red brushstrokes leave us breathless. Everything wakes up during the bella stagione and gives a dose of added energy that makes us ready to see, discover, visit, taste, dance and sing, and the May performances, events and festivals invite us to do so. While Maggio Musicale is in full swing, with guest artists such as Tokyo Ballet, the Stazione Leopolda’s Fabbrica Europa explores avant-garde music, theatre and dance while exploring the cultural wealth of Europe, the Mediterranean and Africa. Genio Fiorentino celebrates Florentine brilliance in art, culture, science and economics. Festa theatre company debuts a new twist on a beloved classic with its English-language production of Alice in Wonderland, and the Mandela Forum hosts the new Riccardo Cocciante musical, Romeo and Juliet. Suona Francese delights with contemporary arias, as do the multilingual choruses of the Florence International Music Festival. The Limonaia theatre in Sesto Fiorentino stages original works at Intercity Connections, in collaboration with the Royal National Theatre of London, while at the nearby Villa Solaria, Nick Cave plays in concert.
Throughout Tuscany, Museo Amico keeps museum doors open at all hours. An unexpected China awaits at Palazzo Strozzi, while the Dutch arrive in Florence with Olandiamo. Danti’s baptistery bronzes are on display at the Bargello, while the Medici and the Sciences are the focus at Palazzo Pitti’s Museo degli Argenti. May also sees the opening of the brand new Ceramics Museum of Montelupo Fiorentino, whose more than 5,000 pieces make it the largest ceramics museum in all of Europe.
Sports-minded folks will have a ball at the Fitness Festival, at the Fortezza da Basso until May 18. If you need some exercise, then sign up for the Guarda Firenze run or the famous 100 km del Passatore run on May 31. May offers car and motorcycle lovers two exciting events: the Mugello Grand Prix and the Mille Miglia road show, which will race right by Piazza del Duomo.
Flowers steal the show in Florence and Tuscany. Start with a stroll through the Iris Garden in Piazzale Michelangelo, then make your way towards the delightful Villa Bardini gardens and the Museo Bardini’s current exhibit, Fattori ed il Naturalismo. Once back in the center, head to the elegant Giardino Corsini, which hosts the Artigianato e Palazzo show. Admire 500 varieties of roses in Candida Bing’s Garden in San Casciano, and swing by the Art of Flowers market in Palazzuolo sul Senio.
Get your fruit and veggie fix with a visit to the Medici villa in Poggio a Caiano, where Bartolomeo Bimbi’s bizarre fruit and vegetable people will be on display, then head to the Ruralia festival at the Parco Mediceo in Pratolino Vaglia, which features the best products from the Tuscan countryside. Long-time and aspiring Greens won’t want to miss the environmental sustainability fair, Terra Futura, at the Fortezza da Basso.
Festivals take over piazzas as Tuscany celebrates everything from fava beans to tortelli, fried frogs, bread, strawberries and the bistecca alla fiorentina. Folklore and tradition take center stage during medieval and Renaissance parades and contests like the Palio del Baluardo, the Palio di Fucecchio, the Campionato Italiano di Tiro alla Balestra in San Miniato and the famous Festival Medievale di Malmantile. Castelfiorentino’s In/Canti e Banchi, a one-of-a kind festival celebrates Italian bards and storytellers.
Find these celebrations of spring, and more, in the events pages. Here’s to a great May!
