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Summer
From June onwards, Tuscany’s festive calendar becomes increasingly
crowded with scores of small town festivals, many of them taking
place around Midsummer Day, the feast of John the Baptist, on 24
June. These provide an opportunity to sample local food and wine
and join in the atmosphere, or to check out some of the bigger set-piece
festivals.
June
- Calcio in Costume, or Football in Costume (19,
24 and 28, June), Florence. Estate Fiesolana, or Fiesole Summer
(mid-June to end August) in Fiesole. Festival of music, arts,
drama, dance and film. Many events are staged in the amphitheatre.
- Regata di San Ranieri (17 June), Pisa. Boat
races in costume and brilliant processions of colourfully decorated
boats are held on the river Arno. After dark, its bankside buildings
are illuminated by tens of thousands of flaming torches.
- Gioco del Ponte or Game of the Bridge (last
Sunday in June), Pisa. A ritual battle played out on a bridge.
July
- Corsa del Palio (2 July and 16 August), Siena.
Tuscany's most famous event. Pistoia Blues (early July), Piazza
del Duomo, Pistoia. Famous international festival of blues music,
lasting for a week. Settimana Musicale Senese (last week), Siena.
Throughout this "Musical Week", chamber music is performed
by members of the renowned Accademia Musicale Chigiana in splendid
settings, such as the Palazzo Chigi-Saraceni.
August
- Festival Pucciniano (all month), Torre del
Lago Puccini. Performances of the composer's operas in an open-air
theatre by the lake where he lived.
- Rodeo (all month), Alberese. Cowboys of the
Maremma demonstrate horse training and cattle herding.
- Cantiere Internazionale d’Arte (first
half of August), Montepulciano. Directed by the composer Hans
Werner Henze, this is an important festival of new work by leading
composers, dramatists and choreographers.
- Festa della Bistecca (15 August), Cortona.
The Festival of the Beefsteak - a local speciality.
- Il Baccanale (penultimate Saturday), Montepulciano.
Feast of wine, food and song to celebrate the local Vino Nobile.
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