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Archive for the ‘Annual Events’ Category

Every year the small village of Pelago takes music very seriously, a 4 day music festival turns this small Tuscan hamlet into a 24 hour party encompassing all genres of music excluding.

Lights up for the big musical event of the days performances.

Campers – who camp for free – start arriving early on in the week and by the start of the festival you’d have to look hard to find anywhere remotely secluded, but then why would you want that? The main centre of Pelago is cordoned off and you have to buy a ticket to enter the town, this year (2004) it cost €8 a day but there are passes available for those that are there for the full duration.

Once you’ve purchased your ticket you’ll be allowed through into the main town where the music takes place and people wander from street to street where bands have setup their systems for the evening.

Hazy Tuscan nights.

It’s not just about music at Pelago, you’ll also find market stalls with world cuisine and artists performing all sorts of acrobatic feats (keep your distances) and shows in the side streets and piazza’s.

In 2004, the “BANDA MUNICIPAL DE SANTIAGO DE CUBA” performed a tribute to Compay Segundo, and was a great opportunity for eveyone to get up and dance to the sounds of Cuba under the Tuscan stars.

For information on the next Pelago on the road visit their website [link]

Fireworks over the Arno river in Florence

On the 24th June every year Firenze celebrates its patron saint, San Giovanni with a colourful display of fireworks that always deliver.

The fireworks display usually starts at around 10:00pm and lasts a good forty minutes. The event is made even more magical because the city lights are switched off for the duration of the display.

Most people setup camp along the stretch of Arno that runs from the Uffizi away from the Ponte Vecchio (from 8pm onwards for a good seat). If you’re out of town then San Donato, about 15 minutes into the hills towards Incisa is where everyone outside the city goes to watch the display.

The saint’s day in Florence also gives the “cittadini” a very important calandar event, a bank-holiday.

Don’t expect to find many shops open in Florence on the 24th, and if the weather’s good you can be sure that a large percentage of the locals will head to the beaches and take sun instead.