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Here’s our round-up for March 16-23
An upbeat week here in Florence sees several live music performances as well as Saint Patrick’s Day celebrations to get you on your feet and ready to enjoy the warmer weather.
March 17
The Tuscan capital goes green for Saint Patrick’s Day. Irish pubs across the city are gearing up for the festivities and there are plenty of options to choose from. Whether you’re in the mood for live music, traditional Irish food and drinks, or just a great atmosphere, there’s a venue for you. Here we take a look at some of the best places to celebrate Paddy’s Day in Florence.
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UK-based composer and multi-instrumentalist Dialect visits Florence for a performance blend of chamber music, electro-acoustics and improvisation. A “musical collage” of sorts, Dialect will feature much of his newest album Under Between during the set. The price for presale tickets is 13 euro with the full price being 20 euro at the door. Reduced price tickets are also available at a price of 16 euro for anyone under 25 and students of the Fiesole Music School.
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The Italian League for the Fight against Cancer organizes meetings (in Italian) throughout the month aimed at individuals who are looking to quit smoking. Led by psychologist and psychotherapist Claudia Bricci, participants will have the opportunity to learn about the many risk factors associated with smoking as well as coping mechanisms to quit the habit.
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Grab your favorite dancing partner for a flamenco course. Flamenco is an art form that originated in southern Spain involving rhythmic beats and lively dancing. This is a great event for anyone looking to learn a new skill and have some fun at the FAF studio in borgo San Frediano.
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Come prepared with an empty stomach and spend your weekend at Tuscan Taste, a foodie network representing Tuscan excellence. Visitors can browse through eight categories including wine, oil, cheese, meat, and more. The event is free, but reservations are required to attend.
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A day for dads, celebrate in style at The Hard Rock Cafe with a special menu featuring a New York strip steak with all of the fixings. Pair it with an old-fashioned cocktail and a live musical performance from Athenaeum Musicale Fiorentino and you have a lovely day well spent with your old man.
Needing no introduction, the biggest Italian band in contemporary music is stopping home for part of their world tour. Coming to Florence for two nights, audiences can sing and dance (or scream and cry) to their chart-topping hits. A global sensation, this Rome-born glam-rock band promises unforgettable performances.
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Kicking off their spring season with a 2-part reflection in Palazzo San Niccolo on how art and society reacts in times of crisis, and how we find hope, inspiration and a new way forward. The second on March 21 is titled The Milk of Dreams: Curating Contemporary Art in the Face of a Pandemic. This lecture explores last year’s Venice Biennale, The Milk of Dreams with a view toward understanding how the pandemic affected both the process and product of mounting the latest edition of this large-scale, contemporary art exhibition. The cost for each event is 20 euro and includes a drink.
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Esteemed British novelist and screenwriter Ian McEwan visits Florence for a special Italian presentation of his new novel Lessons. Along with the presentation, McEwan converses with Italian writer Gaia Manzini. The event is free to attend, but reservations are required.
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This talk hosted by Paola D’Agostino, Director Musei del Bargello will explore the unique story of Palazzo Davanzati, a rare surviving late Medieval private residence in the heart of Florence. This extraordinary monumental building documents the private life of Florentine merchants over time. After several changes in owners and function, Palazzo Davanzati was acquired in 1956 by the Italian Government to become a State Museum. The very recent re-installation of its wide-ranging collections, framed in the magical historic rooms, allows the visitors and scholars to enjoy a travel through time.
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New York-based band GIFT takes their tour global with a date in Florence. Combo Social Club hosts the psychedelic rock band for a concert of good tunes and even better hair.
Visit the Hard Rock for a night of swinging southern fun. Dance your shoes off with live music from the SWING ME TRIO playing all of the jazzy classics. Once you’re ready to get off of your feet, continue the prohibition-style fun (with alcohol this time) as Jack Daniels will be flowing at the bar with special cocktails to pair with southern-style food being served throughout the night. Guests are welcome to dress in theme and the cost of the special with a Jack Daniels cocktail is 39 euro.
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The Biola University Choir from La Mirada, California and directed by Shawna Stewart comes to Florence to perform a choir concert. Joining them is the all-female youth choir Menura vocal ensemble directed by Edoardo Materassi. Entrance is free for the event, however reservation is highly encouraged.
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Tehran-born Florentine artist Aryan Ozmaei exhibits 20 pieces over two thought-provoking locations across the Murate Art District (MAD) and the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnology. Curated under the title of “Third Space”, Ozmaei’s strikingly bold pastel works act as sites of cross-cultural hybridization: fragmented or decontextualized statues and sculptures are symbolically reconstructed to overcome their rigid traditional ethnographic ordering. She explores a relationship between art and anthropology, using it to platform powerful readings of colonial history, the ethnocentric gaze, modernity and its crisis, the need for rewriting, processes of hybridization and de-colonialism.
Private chef Sara Cagle and journalist Phoebe Hunt have announced two new supper club dates this spring, both of which will be held at B.EAST Gallery. The first one on Thursday March 16 is an intimate dinner celebrating the flavours of Turkey and the Middle East – think halloumi and date butter canapés, wild boar manti and celeriac kebabs, paired with Tuscan wines provided by Bosca and Cantina I Veroni. Email phoebejessicahunt@gmail.com or sara@saracagle.com for details.
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Experimental artist Francesco Lauretta presents an exhibition of paintings at the LdM Gallery. Centered around the act of bathing, the literal and symbolic meaning of water has always fascinated Lauretta. Throughout history, bathing has served for a myriad of purposes from religious to hygienic. This exhibition explores those purposes through paintings and card-board cutouts of himself and two other bathers, bringing a dimensional element to the exhibition.