When Carnival arrives Viareggio is transformed. Well, actually the locals are transformed. It’s not easy to figure out what happens during the Carnival if you don’t live in the town.

Subtle humour and a wish to have fun are felt by all ages and it sparks a self-mockery that becomes the theme of the costumes and groups. With mastery and care, the locals make their clothes and write the script of their costumes, taking to the streets and seaside promenades en masse.

Another particularity of Viareggio is that every Saturday, before the Sunday costume parade, every neighbourhood has its own party: music, street food, fried fish, tortelli and fish gnocchi go hand in hand in the long night in the neighbourhoods. Torre del Lago is the first neighbourhood to start the party, followed by the Marco Polo neighbourhood, then it’s the turn of Vecchia Viareggio and concluded by Baccanale Darsena. The Viareggio Carnival begins with the opening ceremony where the keys of the town are handed over to Burlamacco and the last parade ends with a spectacular firework display.  

The idea of the Carnival was conceived in February 1873 at the tables of the Casinò café, where the young rich of Viareggio decided to hold a parade of floats to celebrate Carnival in the streets and among the people. The spectacular event, today among one of the famous in the world, first took place on Shrove Tuesday in 1873. Burlamacco, the  carnival’s clown-like mascot and most famous mask, dates back to 1930 and first appeared accompanied by Ondina, the other official mask, against the backdrop of piers stretching out into the sea, in the poster for the 1931 event. 

The floats will travel down the five large carnival routes on 5 Sundays. The last parade will end with fireworks. The magical papier-mâché giants will be accompanied by the folk groups, entertainers and townspeople in the most original costumes who will invade the scene. Finally, for those who wish to stay out late, parties and masked balls are also held in the region’s best-known bars and clubs.

For further details

☞ https://viareggio.ilcarnevale.com/en/

Saturday, February 8-5 p.m.

1st Opening Night Parade

At the end Fireworks display

Sunday, February 16-3p.m.

2nd Parade

Saturday, February 22-5 p.m.

3rd Night Parade

Thursday, February 27-6p.m.

4th Night Parade

Sunday, March 2-3 p.m.

5th Parade

Tuesday, March 4-3 p.m.

6th Closing Parade

The event will conclude with the proclamation of the winners and a fireworks display

Montelupo Fiorentino celebrates its historic ceramic tradition with a series of unmissable events! Three days dedicated to culture, creativity, and discovery: a unique opportunity to explore the town, the Ceramic Museum, the Ceramic School, and the Bitossi Archive Foundation, with free activities and workshops for all ages. All events are organized with the support of the Regional Council for the Festa della Toscana 2024.

Sunday, February 2

CERAMIC MUSEUM, Piazza Vittorio Veneto 11:

The museum is open from 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM with free entry.

4:00 PM - 5:00 PM: Guided tour of the Ceramic Museum collection: a journey through time and the history of ceramics, featuring masterpieces of the region. The tour concludes with a live demonstration of pottery or painting at the Museum's Kiln.

Duration: 1 hour. Max 20 participants.

Free activity.

5:00 PM - 6:00 PM: Creative ceramic workshop for children and teens: a hands-on experience in creating and decorating guided by a master ceramist.

Location: Museum Kiln, Via Giro delle Mura 70, just a few minutes' walk from the museum.

Duration: 1 hour. Max 20 participants.

Free activity.

Info & Reservations: museo@comune.montelupo-fiorentino.fi.it | Tel. +39 0571 917650

Sunday, February 16

CERAMIC MUSEUM, Piazza Vittorio Veneto 11:

The museum is open from 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM with free entry.

Urban Trekking

10:00 AM: Artistic walk through the town of Montelupo to discover contemporary site-specific artworks.

Departure from the museum.

Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes, 3 km route.

Suitable for all.

Free activity.

4:00 PM - 5:00 PM: Guided tour of the Ceramic Museum collection: a journey through time and the history of ceramics, featuring masterpieces of the region. The tour concludes with a live demonstration of pottery or painting at the Museum's Kiln.

Duration: 1 hour. Max 20 participants.

Free activity.

5:00 PM - 6:00 PM: Creative ceramic workshop for children and teens: a hands-on experience in creating and decorating guided by a master ceramist.

Location: Museum Kiln, Via Giro delle Mura 70, just a few minutes' walk from the museum.

Duration: 1 hour. Max 20 participants.

Free activity.

Info & Reservations: museo@comune.montelupo-fiorentino.fi.it | Tel. +39 0571 917650

Saturday, March 1

CERAMIC SCHOOL, Via Gramsci 8:

From 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM and 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM, special opening of the Ceramic School: a unique opportunity to discover the school blending tradition and artisanal innovation. Free entry!

Guided Tour of the Ceramic School

10:00 AM, 11:00 AM, 12:00 PM: Guided tours of the Ceramic School with live demonstrations of pottery.

Reservation required. Max 10 participants per group.

Free activity.

Ceramics Experience

From 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM: Ceramics Experience: visit the Ceramic School and take part in hands-on activities, including pottery on the wheel and decorative painting.

Reservation required. Max 20 participants.

Comfortable clothing and closed shoes are mandatory.

Activity restricted to participants aged 18 and older.

Free activity.

BITOSSI ARCHIVE MUSEUM, Via Gramsci 14:

Guided Tour of the Museum

11:00 AM and 3:00 PM: Guided tour of the museum collection, featuring some of the most iconic 20th-century works produced by the Bitossi company.

Reservation required.

Free activity.

CERAMIC MUSEUM, Piazza Vittorio Veneto 11:

The museum is open from 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM with free entry.

For info & bookings:

Tel. +39 0571 917650

museo@comune.montelupo-fiorentino.fi.it

At the Palazzina ex Cavallerizza in Lucca: an unmissable exhibition on the posters of Puccini's operas.

In the evocative setting of the Palazzina ex Cavallerizza, located in Piazzale Verdi in Lucca, an extraordinary exhibition is underway dedicated to the vintage posters of Giacomo Puccini's operas. The exhibition celebrates not only the musical genius of the Lucchese composer but also the graphic and illustrative art that helped spread the fame of his works.

The exhibition features a selection of 100 historic posters, masterpieces created by the most important illustrators of the era. Among these are illustrious names such as Plinio Nomellini and Galileo Chini, whose works captured the essence of Puccini's operas and conveyed to the public the emotion and charm of titles like La Bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot.

In addition to the posters dedicated to Puccini's works, the exhibition includes a selection of iconic works by the authors themselves, allowing visitors to explore the artistic and cultural context in which these creations took shape. These are true "author" posters, testimonies of a historical period in which visual art and music were deeply intertwined to create unique aesthetic experiences.

Opening hours and costs

The exhibition is open to the public every day, with continuous hours from 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM. Admission to the exhibition costs €12 for adults, while a reduced price of €5 is available for students, seniors over 65, and organized groups. Entry is free for children under 10 years old and for residents of the Municipality of Lucca on the first Monday of every month.

The famous Antiques Fair of Arezzo is one of the most important and largest antique fairs in Italy, held every first Sunday of the month and the preceding Saturday.

Pictures and paintings, small jewels, ancient and modern furniture, carpets, clocks, silverware, toys, books and vintage prints, collection stamps, musical instruments, gramophones and radios: it is easy to be charmed and indulge in discovering one of the biggest and oldest Italian Antiques Fairs. 

In 1968 a famous antiquarian and collector of Arezzo, Ivan Bruschi, gave birth to this fair which still today fills with its curious bric-a-brac the old town centre, its streets, yards, Vasari Loggia and wonderful Piazza Grande, every first weekend of the month.

For two days the town changes into a multicolor scenery of treasures waiting to be discovered by tourists and collectors: over five hundreds exhibitors from all over Italy meet here with their furniture and objects of all periods and styles, while antiquarians and restorers have multiplied their business, opening their shops during the fair and showing their best items. Experts of antiques and

modern antique collecting find here plenty of particular specializations, such as, for instance, scientific tools, Art-Nouveau stained glass windows, Art Deco furnishing.

First Sunday of the month: museums free entrance

It is a very important event involving all the State Museums with specials and free tickets access. Therefore, if you plan to visit Florence, Pisa, Lucca or any other Tuscan town our countless masterpieces without spending one Euro!

For instance in Florence you can visit: the Uffizi Gallery, Academy Museum, Pitti Palace and Boboli Gardens, Bargello Museum, Medici Chapels, and many other attractions. All of them free of charge!

List of  State Museums in Tuscany HERE. 

“If you want to live happily for a day, get drunk. If you want to live happily for a month, kill a pig. If you want to live happily for a year, get married. If you want to live happily for all of your days, grow camellias.” That’s how an old Chinese proverb goes and we all know that it’s hard to go wrong with Eastern sagacity. 

A token of information for those who have never grown them: camellias are in flower between January and April every year. So it’s the right time to start, choosing from dozens of varieties that differ in terms of shape and colour. Originating from the East, there are over 250 wild species of camellia and thousands of cultivated varieties called cultivar. Made immortal by Alexandre Dumas’ novel, The Lady of the Camellias, and adored by Coco Chanel, the camellia continues to charm. It is the symbol of love and supreme, hidden perfection.

No-one knew what it was called when it arrived in England onboard an East India naval vessel in the first few years of the 18th century. It remains nameless for another 50 years until Linneo registered it in the official botanical history as Camellia, in honour of the Jesuit father, Georg Joseph Kamel, who had brought it to London in 1738 on his return from a journey to the Philippines.

From England, the rage for camellia spread throughout Europe and there was a real madness to grab the rarest varieties. However it was in France, in the second half of the 19th century, when the camellia achieved its season of glory: it was the flower of Alphonsine Plessis in the Lady of the Camellias by Alexandre Dumas, which triumphed as a novel in 1849 and as a lyrical work as la Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi in 1853. The camellia then became a symbol of love.

An event not to be missed for those who want to find out more about the world of camellias, the Mostra delle Antiche Camelie della Lucchesia (Exhibition of Ancient Camellias in the Lucchesia area),  takes place on the weekends 8-9, 15-16, 22-23 and 29-30 of March at S. Andrea di Compito.

Visiting the Camellietum Compitese is an exciting experience: a botanical garden gathering together 140 cultivar recovered from the parks and gardens of historic villas, not just in the Lucca area, but from all over Tuscany.

An extremely important botanical heritage that was otherwise at risk of being lost.

During the Antiche Camelie della Lucchesia (Exhibition of Ancient Camellias in the Lucchesia area), which is open from 10 am to 6pm, the Borgo is closed to traffic and visitors can access it with the special shuttle, available from 9.30 until the end of the event. Car parking, shuttle station and ticket office are located at the Compitese oil mill – via di Tiglio 609, Pieve di Compito.

Entrance Ticket 8 Euro

Website: ☞http://www.camelielucchesia.it

In Pistoia, the second Saturday and Sunday of the month an antique fair is held which attracts  many dealers from all over Tuscany. Here you can find very valuable antiques: furniture, majolica, porcelain, jewelery, clocks, coins, old lacework, crystal goblets and profane and religious period paintings.

On the stalls you can find clothing, utensils and ethnic products, as well as magazines, comics, used garments and other items from the past. 

The market takes place in the so called Cattedrale - not to confuse with the real Cathedral - (Via Pertini) - eccept July and August.

There are about 100 exhibitors who animate the historic city center with various kinds of antiques every second Saturday and Sunday of the month except July and August.

You will find ceramics, glassware and cutlery for a romantic table setting and a very good range of embroidered linen (perhaps an untouched trousseau from a failed marriage). Also sepia paintings, watercolours, vintage  postcards (full of insight into how we lived in the past and complete with shaky handwriting), out-of-print books for the attentive book collector, silver and gold coins from every corner of the globe and much, much more.

Where: Pisa, Piazza dei Cavalieri, Piazza Garibaldi

In Vernio there is a historical re-enactment among the oldest and longest-lived in Tuscany: the Polenta or Pulendina Festival. For centuries, the town has seen the free distribution in the square of sweet polenta made from chestnut flour, herring and cod. It all begins with a historical fact: in 1512, during the Spanish invasion of Tuscany, there was a severe famine and the Bardi Counts, feudal lords of Vernio, distributed sweet polenta, herring and cod to the population.

Even today, after so many centuries, there is a feast throughout the day with a corollary of appointments led by the traditional procession in historical costume with hundreds of figures that parade through the streets of Vernio since the morning. 

Pistoia - Vintage Toy Market Exhibition
 Saturday, March 15, and Sunday, March 16, 2025 

From 10:00 AM to 1:00 AM

La Cattedrale
Via Sandro Pertini, Pistoia

Simultaneously: VINTAGE FEST PISTOIA

💰 Entry Fee: €5.00
Includes a Vintage Fest Cotton Bag

✅ VINTAGE TOYS

 ✅ MODEL BUILDING

 ✅ DOLLS AND ACCESSORIES

 ✅ COLORFUL BRICKS

 ✅ ALBUMS AND STICKERS

Pistoia - Vintage Toy Market Exhibition
 Saturday, March 15, and Sunday, March 16, 2025 

From 10:00 AM to 1:00 AM

La Cattedrale
Via Sandro Pertini, Pistoia

Simultaneously: VINTAGE FEST PISTOIA

💰 Entry Fee: €5.00
Includes a Vintage Fest Cotton Bag

✅ VINTAGE TOYS

 ✅ MODEL BUILDING

 ✅ DOLLS AND ACCESSORIES

 ✅ COLORFUL BRICKS

 ✅ ALBUMS AND STICKERS

Second among the antique-dealers' market places of Tuscany for the number of its exhibitors and length of life, the Antique market of Lucca can boast of a solid tradition of quality and reliability thanks to professional antiquarians of high prestige who have always been an important presence in town. 

At the third weekend of each month (on Saturday and Sunday), from 8 am to 7 pm, Lucca opens its gates for a joyful event involving a large portion of the historical centre: from Piazza S. Martino, Piazza Antelminelli and Via Del Battistero - the historical antique dealers' street- ‚ to Piazza San Giusto, and Piazza S. Giovanni up to Piazza Bernardini. It is a gorgeous display of colorful stalls offering not only past vestiges of remarkable artistic value, but also traces of souvenirs impressed on a post-card, on a book, on a knick-knack or on an ornament. 

Furniture, clothes, fabrics, paintings, rare components of old instruments, lamps and chandeliers, old working tools, records..... a wide pattern of old or antique objects‚ patiently gathered and collected after explorations which

are getting more and more difficult. All these things speak to both the tourist and the lover, of a world, which has gone, but not willing to be forgotten yet.

Two unforgettable days around the most charming

streets of the town. It is Art facing Art, History meeting History. A really unique occasion to know Lucca better and taste the pleasure of peeping through the stalls in search of something beautiful to take home and - why not?- probably also making a good bargain! 

At the Real Collegio di Lucca, Passione Vintage & HandMade returns on March 15th and 16th, 2025! Following the great success of the first edition, with over 4,500 visitors, the event once again celebrates creativity and tradition. The finest exhibitors of vintage items and handmade products will create a unique atmosphere where past and present come together.

In Pisa, the New Year is celebrated twice – not only on the 1st of January along with the rest of the world, but also on the 25th of March.
The Pisans have not forgotten their traditions, and each year they mark the beginning of the year as was their custom between 1200 and 1749, when New Year's Day coincided with the Annunciation, nine months before Christmas (Anno Pisano ab Incarnatione Domini). 

Today, just like then, the beginning of the Pisan Year is marked by a sort of solar clock, a physical phenomenon that is as simple as it is spectacular and intriguing: at midday sharp, a ray of sunlight penetrates the Duomo through a round nave window, landing on a marble egg on a shelf surmounting a column next to the pulpit of Giovanni Pisano, on the opposite side. 

The event is preceded by a historical parade and a religious ceremony that ends at exactly 12 noon.
 The city of the Leaning Tower will see two days of great festivities in Pisa and in the surroundings.

By its nature, an original and provocative city, Florence is confirmed as such also in celebrating the New Year. Well yes. No dance and party for New Year's Eve, but a big party for the night between 24 and 25 March! At least this happened until 1749 ... Well yes, in the shadow of the Dome and of all the Tuscan lands, the New Year's Eve only coincided with the announcement of motherhood given to the Virgin Mary by the Archangel Gabriel: exactly nine months before Christmas. Florence, which has always been linked to the cult of the Madonna, did not give a damn if in other parts of the world the Gregorian calendar had already been in force for 168 years, anticipating New Year's Eve to 1 January. It was only at the end of 1749 that the Grand Duke Francesco III of Lorraine also imposed on the Florentines with a decree, that the calendar year was fixed on the basis of the Gregorian calendar and therefore brought forward to January 1st. But for better or worse, Florence proud of its traditions continues to remember and celebrate "its" New Year, so much so that March 25 is one of the 12 official holidays of the municipality of Florence ... and a plaque placed in the Loggia dei Lanzi remembers the "Florentine New Year". The fulcrum of the festival was (and has returned to being) the Basilica of the Santissima Annunziata which opens onto the splendid Brunelleschi square of the same name and where the cult of the Annunciation is celebrated.

Where: Florence, Piazza Santissima Annunziata

On March 28 and 29, Pistoia CollExpo is back!

The fifth edition of the most important historical collectibles swap organised in Central Italy, in the welcoming setting of the exhibition space 'La Cattedrale" in Pistoia.

Stamps, coins, postcards, and much more.

Monthly appointment with Collecting in Florence, where the monthly market of all that is collectible takes place outdoors on the banks of the Arno in the Tuscany Hall car park in Florence. Among the various stands, enthusiasts will be able to find books, jewellery, small pieces of furniture, plates, candlesticks, clocks, chandeliers, dolls, porcelain, coins, records, DVDs, etc.

GIARDINO PALAGHIACCIO GIGLIO BIANCO

TEATRO CARTIERE CARRARA - Lungarno Aldo Moro 7 - Firenze

Open from 10.00 to 19.00.

FREE ENTRY.

Arti e Mestieri is an arts and crafts market in the historic center of Lucca, with a big number of exhibitors that meet every last weekend of the month in Piazza San Giusto, Piazza Cittadella and Piazza XX Settembre with many traditional and original products from Tuscany.

At Arti e Mestieri there are ceramists, painters, sculptors, leather, glass and papier-mâché artisans, weavers, jewelers, cabinet makers, seamstresses and embroiderers, knitting and crochet experts. The artisans-artists offer their exclusive products in a colorful market: bijoux in silver, ceramic and crochet, natural products for body care, fountain pens worked on the lathe, bags, belts and leather bracelets, painted stones, scented lavender, splendid paintings and sculptures.