Best events in Florence this July and August 2022

Here’s our round-up for the months of July and August, 2022.

As temperatures soar and the city swelters, embrace the sweet relief of air-conditioned museums or set off for some chilled summer serate with an events programme to take us through to September.

Here’s our line-up of best events for July and August.

23 July 2022 - 31 July 2022
MUSIC

Italian Brass Week

The 23rd edition of the international festival sets up in Florence, Rome and Arezzo for the big brass affair directed by maestro Luca Benucci, first horn player of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. This year’s edition is titled The Secret Craft of the Musical Artwork: from Body and Mind to Heart, and is in tribute to Antonio Canova on the 200th anniversary of his death. Masterclasses, concerts and an international competition make up the programme, with top class musicians bringing the best of brass.

 

9 July 2022 - 10 July 2022
JAPAN

Festa Tanabata

Lailac, the Japanese cultural association in Florence, have organized this free festival as part of Estate Fiorentina, focused on Tanabata, the Japanese celebration of wishes. Based on the legendary love story between Princess Orihime (the Vega star) and the shepherd Kengu (the Altair star), the festival features martial arts, dances by the Hanafuji group, Japanese folk music with taiko drums and shinobue flute, and also a small market with handcrafted creations and street food. Participants can hang their wishes on bamboo branches, in keeping with the tradition, and enjoy traditional games, calligraphy, shiatsu and bonodori dance.

From June 25
CULTURE

500th anniversary of Eleonora di Toledo

Starting at 11.30am on June 25, every last weekend of the month, guided visits to the sites of the Santa Maria Novella complex and the Palazzo Vecchio museum related to Eleonora di Toledo will take place to celebrate the 500th anniversary of her birth. The special tours explore the large cloister and the Cappellone degli Spagnoli, allowing us to understand how important the sixteenth-century interventions were on the entire complex, in line with the dictates of the Counter-Reformation. The story of the Spanish noblewoman’s arrival in Florence in 1539 will be told, as well as her impact in the years that followed. Tours last 1 hour 15 minutes and cost 2.50 euro for Florence residents, or 5 euro for non-residents, in addition to museum tickets (free for Florence residents). Find out more at www.musefirenze.it.

CINEMA

Apriti Cinema brings a pop-up movie theatre to piazzale degli Uffizi from June 27 to August 27 with a free programme that features a selection from various festivals such as River to River Florence Indian Film Festival and Florence Korea Film Fest in a truly varied line-up. Screenings are in the original language with Italian subtitles, with many films dedicated to art and auteur cinema. The Belvedere terrace of Villa Bardini is the stunning setting for film screenings of all sorts over the summer, with 5 euro entry and free films for families on Thursdays. Reservations required via Villa Bardini  and Cinema in Villa. The third edition of the series seats 200 and features a packed programme with films in original language with subtitles in Italian or/and English. Curated by the Niels Stensen Cultural Foundation, screenings begin at 9.15pm and range from Federico Fellini’s La Dolce Vita to Disney’s Encanto. Cinema Odeon Firenze (piazza degli Strozzi) screens Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis until June 3, with the king of rock and roll played by Austin Butler, and then brings Thor: Love and Thunder to the theatre from June 6-17, ahead of the Odeon’s closure on June 18 for the season. Outdoor cinema screenings are a must in the summer, with Manifattura Tabacchi also popping up a screen, as well as places like SdraivIn in via della Poggiona 6, Scandicci until September 4 that couples films with dinner, and Cinema Chiardiluna in the Oltrarno that shows many of the latest hits. The Spazio Alfieri cinema (via dell’Ulivo 8) holds a free-entry screening at 7pm on July 21 of Rosalind Resnick’s romantic comedy inspired by Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Townhouse Confidential, which premiered at the New York City Independent Film Festival.

EXHIBITIONS

Forte di Belvedere (via di San Leonardo) sees a season of great exhibitions with Rä di Martino’s Play it Again on display until October 2, a project by Museo Novecento curated by Sergio Risaliti. You’ll also find FOTOGRAFE! From the Alinari Archives to Today at the same site as well as at Villa Bardini, curated by Emanuele Sesti and Walter Guadagnini. Both art shows are ones to catch this summer. Rifugio Digitale (via della Fornace 41) hosts Lonely Living L’architettura dello spazio primario from July 1 to September 8, an exhibition that was featured as part of the Venice Biennale of Architecture in 2002. The digital display shows 18 building proposals based on minimal living, designed by leading names in contemporary Italian architecture. Museo Novecento (piazza di Santa Maria Novella 10) feature works by Corrado Cagli until October 20, in an exploration of 30 works by the 20th-century artist. Palazzo Medici Riccardi’s Galleria delle Carrozze is the site for SKIM’s Genesi – L’armonia del Kaos until September 26. The street and graffiti artist Francesco Forconi (SKIM) creates fantastical and colourful works with elements like small boats, letters, brushes, pencils and music projected into an imaginary dimension.

4 July 2022
FESTIVITIES

Fourth of July

Spend Independence Day with The Florentine in the Tuscan countryside! Join us for a Fourth of July BBQ at Ruffino’s Poggio Casciano estate. Resident chef Stefano Frassineti has come up with a finger-licking menu of American-style Tuscan goodness served with Ruffino wines in the greenery of the Renaissance villa’s gardens. Expect good vibes and Tuscan beauty this Fourth of July with Ruffino and The Florentine. Tickets cost 35 euro (wine not included); from 7.30pm onwards. To book, email hospitality@ruffino.it or call +39 378 3050220.

Also on July 4, the Tuscan American Association will be holding a party at Harry’s Bar The Garden Villa Medici (via Il Prato 40R) from 6.30 to 9pm. Look out for fine food, music, drinks, national anthems and traditional greetings for Independence Day. The event costs 20 euro. Email info@studiomancianti.it or davis@texnet.it to book your spot.

COMMUNITY EVENTS

St Mark’s English Church (via Maggio 16) hosts Italian for Travellers, language learning sessions costing 15 euro per session, plus a small donation to the church, at 7pm on July 4, 6, 25 + 27. Yoga (entry by donation) will be held at 9am on July 2 + 16, and meditation takes place at 10am on July 2 + 16. At 7pm on July 28, Lisa Brancatisano (@thistuscanlife) speaks about her lifestyle magazine and myriad other projects; entry by donation. Choral Evensong with the Choir of Jesus College, Oxford, is at 6pm on July 1, with Choral Eucharist at 10.30am on July 3. A choral concert will be performed by the Exonian Choir in the Basilica of San Lorenzo from 9.15pm on July 9, with music by Vaughan Williams, Howells and their Tudor forebears. Finally, the Exonian Choir will sing Choral Eucharist at 10.30am on July 10. For more information, email events@stmarksitaly.com.

Women Latinists is a course from July 17-31 in Florence to hone your Latin reading skills and expand knowledge of Latin texts written by women throughout history. Anyone with an intermediate-advanced level of Latin is invited to take part in the salon-style morning lessons, creative workshops and cultural programme, with optional evening events. See www.forte-academy.co.uk.

Oltre Ogni Confine dagli Allori is a free event series as part of Estate Fiorentina, created by Casa Museo Schlatter and the Amici degli Allori. Held at the Cimitero Evangelico degli Allori, the theatrical show is performed by Alessandro Calonaci and the MALD’ESTRO theatre company, and the KULT ROSES 659 company, exploring five characters buried at the cemetery, with alternating AGIMUS musicians on the various dates. The libretto for the performance will be printed in Italian and English, and freely distributed to viewers. The series launches with flautist Francesca Sofia Presentini from 6.45pm on July 10, cellist Luca Provenzani plays at 6.45pm on August 2. At 6.30pm on August 30, harpist Elena Castini will perform, while violinist Andrea Farolfi is at 6pm on September 24. As part of the programme, it will be possible to book guided tours of Il Palmerino, the Florentine home of Vernon Lee; the Schlatter House Museum, the studio of the theosophist painter C.A. Schlatter, and the Cimitero degli Allori, in Russian and English as well as Italian. The Luzi Library hosts talks and readings at 5pm on July 7 and at 6pm on July 28, while Villa Arrivabene hosts a theatrical reading at 9pm on July 15.

The Festa della Battitura at Borgo Petriolo near Bagno a Ripoli on July 9-10 is a fun-filled festival to celebrate the threshing of wheat with a packed programme of workshops for children, artisanal gelato, games, poetry, and much more. Free entry. For info and booking call +39 055 294458, email info@borgopetriolo.it.

Female Arts in Florence inaugurate ‘Magma’ on July 7, an exhibition by Cristina Boff (on display until August 27) with a sound performance by Cristina Italiani and wine tasting offered by Firstglass. A watercolour course led by Marianna Piccini is from 6.30-8pm on July 13. Get in touch at gruppofaf@gmail.com or see @femaleartsinflorence on FB and IG.

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