Here’s our round-up for January 25-February 1, 2024.
Carnival antics add a festive flair to Florence, with writers’ meet-ups and a site-specific performance at the Accademia Gallery added to our diaries this week.
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Florence’s festivities will commence on Saturday January 27, starting with the Grand Ball at Palazzo Vecchio, with the theme, ‘Queens of the Palace.’ Esteemed guests, clad in traditional costumes, will take to the Salone del Cinquecento for an extravagant celebration, costing 500 euro per person to attend. All proceeds from the evening will be dedicated to the Villa Lorenzi project, which supports young people in difficulty and their families, and the You Foundation, which works for the education of children in poverty across the globe. Booking enquires for the grand ball are to be made via their website. Sunday 28 will see the highly anticipated parade through the city centre, starting from Santa Maria Novella at 3pm, and is free for anyone in costume to join. Participation badges will be available to collect on the day, on the Basilica side of piazza Santa Maria Novella. Meanwhile, music and entertainment in piazza della Signoria will start from 3pm, where the parade will finish, and a grand jury will issue prizes for the best masks on display.
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A site-specific performance takes place in the striking setting, with choreography by Kinkaleri and music by Canedicoda. The body is perceived as a place of transformation, with movement, sound and the setting used to give life to an unforgettable show. The free performance can be booked via Eventbrite.
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Various initiatives are being organized in Florence on the occasion of the International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27. At 8am, the flag will be raised at half-mast on the facade of the Palazzo Vecchio, as a mark of respect for the victims of the Holocaust. At 9am, a laurel wreath will be laid at Giardino dei Giusti on via Trento. Local libraries host a series of book presentations and themed reading proposals.
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A must for the clothing conscious, quality vintage design is gathered under one roof as collectors and exhibitors bring out their fabulous finds. Held in conjunction with textiles-focused Pitti Filati (January 24-26), all those hunting cool creations come to take a look at the carefully curated rails that feature global labels. Enjoy the live entertainment as music, shows and exhibitions offer a perfect panorama of vintage culture.
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31 January 2024 - 1 February 2024
A three-day intercultural festival between Ireland and Italy celebrates the 1500th anniversary of the death of St-Brigid of Ireland. The project takes an artistic and ecological tone to highlight the relevance of Brigid’s values, such as peacemaking, community building and the need to cultivate a right relationship with the earth. Scholars, musicians, poets and dancers make up the programme. Email: hearthland.creatives@gmail.com, T: 339 6307255.
An upcycling workshop will be held at 4pm on January 27 at the Bio Fashion Lab in via Alfonso La Marmora 25A, bookable via Eventbrite.
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The research-based exhibition by Zachary Fabri explores honesty and fatigue in terms of “the consumption of socio-political conflicts and contradictions”. Colonial violence, displacement and silence are concepts framed through the language of beverages.
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Images taken from the Luciano Frassi photographic archive are on show in an exhibition that explores life in Pisa from the 1920s to the end of the century, chronicling important historic events and changes with leading figures from international and national politics present as well as personalities from the scientific, cultural and entertainment fields. Urban planning changes, city news, Romeo Anconetani’s football reporting and the alarm over the potential collapse of the Leaning Tower, which this year marks 850 years since the laying of the first stone, are all depicted.
Read moreThe Florence Writing Community launches FloNoWriMo, its own version of National Novel Writing Month, meeting at 7pm on January 31 in St. Mark’s English Church to discuss aims and create community. Email contact@opendoorsreview.com to find out more on how to get involved. Requested donation of 5 euro per person.
From January 14, The Social Hub (viale Spartaco Lavagnini 70/72) hosts an all-you-can-eat brunch with live music and entertainment on Sundays from 11.30am to 3pm, kicking off with a Drag brunch with The Shade, followed by Sinedades live music on January 21, and Bioritmo on January 28. The brunch with entertainment costs 25 euro (drinks not included).
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Visitors are taken on a journey through the past and future of astronomy in celebration of the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s Assayer. Interactive installations and immersive projections grant a new way of looking at the universe with the stars, planets and their satellites the subject of this scientific exhibition.
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Celebrating the 15th anniversary of the Acquario della Memoria association, a new cycle of cinema walking tours spans stories from Etruscan and Roman times up to the 1970s. Remembrance Day on January 27 sees a tour marking the 80th anniversary of the bombings of Pisa, with projections, stories, private diaries and videos taking participants through the destruction on August 31, 1943, up until liberation in September 1944.
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A 6km (2 hour) walk in the footsteps of the early 20th century Anglo-Florentines takes you to discover the Edwardian community of Florence when it was “more English than England”. ...
Create your personalized perfume with perfumer Silvia Madari as she guides you through the secrets of fragrances. Book into one of our open workshops or create a private experience for ...
At Tenuta Ruffino Poggio Casciano, the time for the grape harvest has arrived. In the charming Tuscan countryside, not far from Florence, the carefully curated vineyards finally bear their fruit, ...
Supercar lovers are in for a treat this October 11 to 13 as five-star luxury hotel Villa La Massa holds a car event like no other. Villa La Massa Excellence ...