Here’s our round-up for the month of March, 2022.
As March ushers in brighter weather and the start of spring, Florence fills with exciting new exhibitions and food fairs in the month that features Taste, Chianti Lovers, and markets galore. Don’t forget there’s free entry to several of the city’s museums this Sunday for residents in Florence!
For an immediate uplift, set off to gather sweetly scented tulips and bring your treasures back to your home to celebrate the arrival of spring. With more than 100 varieties and 300,000 tulips creating a colourful carpet, pick-your-own and let the flora assuage your stresses. See @wanderandpick on Instagram.
Among the darkness in the Sala d’Arme of Palazzo Vecchio, images and sounds by Israeli filmmaker Amos Gitai reflect on themes such as exile and war, featuring the voices of actors like Juliette Binoche, Pippo Delbono, Jeanne Moreau and Natalie Dessay. Human destiny, history and the various languages of the Mediterranean blend in the immersive experience with music, projections and readings in a thought-provoking and timely show. Free entry. info@musefirenze.it
For the first time, the three Pietàs by Michelangelo are on display together in the Tribune Room at the Opera del Duomo Museum. The newly restored original Bandini Pietà (thanks to a contribution from Friends of Florence) and the casts of the Vatican Pietà and the Rondanini Pietà will be explored through a religious lens, with the title taking a quote from Dante’s Paradise XXIX, Non vi si pensa quanto sangue costa. The display offers the chance to study the evolution of Michelangelo’s art as well as his spiritual maturation.
Michelangelo's Three Pietàs at the Opera del Duomo Museum
The phenomenal career of Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi, better known as Donatello, is explored in this awe-inspiring exhibition curated by Francesco Caglioti that extends across two venues. The masterpieces are juxtaposed with those by other Italian Renaissance masters such as Brunelleschi, Masaccio, Giovanni Bellini, Raphael and Michelangelo, in an engaging deep dive into the influential artist’s creative journey.
27 March 2022
Giuseppe Verdi’s now world-renowned opera, La Traviata, had its opening night at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice in 1853. Hershey Felder’s new musical film goes deep into the story behind the opera and its first performance, taking the role of Verdi as he grappled with the vicious response to its first performance. Filmed at Palazzo Borghese in Florence, on location in Venice and at Villa Verdi near Piacenza, purchase the film for one week on-demand viewing for 50 euro. Purchase tickets here.
Changing venues from the Stazione Leopolda to the Fortezza da Basso, the hugely popular Italian food event Taste makes a comeback from March 26 to 28. Get ready to taste the unexpected as the best of the country’s contemporary food culture unfurls its specialties. A colorful and energetic feast for the eyes, the food world will be at the centre of a packed calendar of events, talks and meetings. Davide Paolini’s taste rings will return, featuring top partnerships with experts, chefs and newcomers.
One-day wine event Chianti Lovers returns to Florence during the Tuscan wine preview week (March 19 to 25), welcoming connoisseurs for tastings of Tuscany’s beloved red wine as well as a sneak peek at the latest releases of Morellino di Scansano from Maremma in southern Tuscany, with over 100 wineries in attendance. Tickets available via boxofficetoscana.it.
Strolling through the city and stumbling across a market is one of the many pleasures of life in Florence. The Creative Factory in piazza dei Ciompi brings together 30 makers on March 12 and 13 and their handmade products in a one-of-a-kind market display (info.heyart@gmail.com). The same location is packed with Fumetti e Dischi (comics and discs) on March 26 and 27. Piazza Santo Spirito hosts the Fierucolo di San Giuseppe e dei Legnaioli on March 20, with artisanal wooden goods available for sale as well as workshops and seasonal foods and wines. Festive treats for carnival are still very much on our mind (and lips): the Sagra delle Frittelle at the Circolo SMS San Donato in Collina, Bagno a Ripoli, takes place on March 5, 6, 12, 13, 19 and 20, with the sweet rice balls every food lover’s dream. Further afield, Arezzo’s well-known antiques fair pops up in the historic centre on March 5 and 6 with amazing wares and unique finds filling the streets.
The 25Hours Hotel screens Come se non ci fosse un domani by Igor Biddau on March 6 and Donne senza Uomini by Lorenzo Giacinti on March 13, with the directors in attendance presenting their works and free entry. Cinema Odeon Firenze (piazza degli Strozzi) shows The Batman from March 3, plunging into Gotham City’s underworld when a sadistic killer leaves behind a trail of cryptic clues, directed by Matt Reeves and starring Robert Pattinson. On the occasion of Pier Paolo Pasolini’s centenary, restored versions of his films come to the big screen in the Pasolini 100 series, while 3 time Oscar nominee Liqorice Pizza will be shown from March 17. Paul Thomas Anderson’s masterpiece stars Alana Haim, Cooper Hoffman, Bradley Cooper, Sean Penn and Tom Waits. Films are shown in original language with Italian subtitles. Cinema La Compagnia (via Cavour 50) screens Terrence Malick’s The Voyage of Time and Firenze Archeofilm as part of their wide-ranging programme.
Speakeasy Multilingual host a fundraiser for Ukraine through a silent art auction with drinks and appetizers at 7.30pm on March 9. A suggested donation of 15 euro will go towards helping the people of Ukraine, with a refugee from Donesk, Nadia, speaking about her experience and what is happening. She and other local artists will donate works for the silent auction to raise funds. If you would like to donate a work, message Miriam at +39 3479598413.
Female Arts in Florence shows Mappe Scombinate, an installation by Ink-P from March 10, with Emmò Italiano hosting an Artistic Language Exchange at 7pm on the same day. The Archetypes workshop will be held from 4.30 to 6pm on March 12, titled In the fragments of the mirror. Yin Yoga with music is on March 18, with a presentation of new artists and artisans on March 26. All events take place at the FAF space in borgo San Frediano 131. Get in touch at gruppofaf@gmail.com or see the @fafcraftwomen Facebook page and @femaleartsinflorence on Instagram.
To mark St. Patrick’s Day on March 17, Clover Danze Irlandesi brings a tour of traditional Irish dance to celebrate the patron saint of the Emerald Isle, with music by The Hidden Note at Fitzpatrick’s Irish pub (via Ghibellina 152) on March 11 with a traditional Irish menu, a show by the Shamrock Dance Company at the Hard Rock Café on March 17, and other events around Tuscany. IRIS Academy of Irish Dance and Willos’ Irish folk music with Massimo Giuntini perform at Fitzpatrick’s Irish Pub on March 17, with an Irish menu, concert and dancing costing 25 euro (20 euro for IRIS members). Reserve at info@irisdanzeirlandesi.it
The British Institute of Florence continue their Wednesday lecture series at the Harold Acton Library (lungarno Guicciardini 9) both in person and online via Zoom at 6pm. March 9 sees Emiko Davies give a talk titled ‘From Bistecca to Zuppa Inglese: When Florentine cuisine was inspired by the British’. March 16 will be Patrick Kragelund on ‘Latin Inscriptions of the Medici dynasty’. On March 23, Jeremy Boudreau speaks about ‘Consecrating a place of awe: Festivities at the Florentine Cathedral, 1436’, and Katie Campbell rounds up this month’s talks on March 30 with ‘Cultivating the Renaissance: a social history of the Medici Tuscan Villas’. The Music al British evenings take place at 6.30pm on March 10 in collaboration with the Mascarade Opera Studio, with ‘Not so long ago’, an evening dedicated to the Florentine composer Ugalberto de Angelis, and a clarinet and piano performance by Ross Montgomery and Kristina Yorgova on March 31, with works by Mozart, Schubert and Finzi.
In the fields above Florence at Terrafranta (via Bolognese 290), there will be three days of zero kilometre cooking from March 4-6 based on local ingredients cooked on the fire with live jazz music, lavender craft beer and fruit juices. Reservation required at info@terrafranta.com.
Paola’s Studiolo is an online series by Paola Vojnovic featuring leading scholars, curators and thinkers. March 5 will be a conversation with Dr Victor Coonin ‘On the occasion of Michelangelo’s 547th birthday – Michelangelo’s David: Then and Now’. A conversation with Joe Navarro on March 12 looks at ‘The Art of Observing’, and March 19 sees art historian Carlo Corsato speak about the Lost Venetian Church. Finally, March 26 is with Gražina Subelytė, curator of Surrealism and Magic: Enchanted Modernity at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice.
The Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute together with the GGP: Global Governance Programme hosts a one-day panel event in the Sala Europa at Villa Schifanoia that will bring together a panel of international experts to look at sovereignty from a range of different perspectives.
St Mark’s English Church (via Maggio 16) hold their Language Café at 7pm on Thursday 24, a chance to come and practice Italian with other non-native speakers with all levels welcome. On March 31, Michael Griffiths OBE, former President of the British Chamber of Commerce for Italy, will give a talk on ‘Value Economics’ (to be confirmed).
