If you travel around Tuscany during Summer, you’ll find a variety of festivals and events livening up the towns and villages. With the long days and hot weather, people tend to spend time outside later when it’s cooler. Parks, piazze and open-air theatres put on their Summer Festivals throughout the region, with concerts, sagre (food festivals) and impressive historical re-enactments, where picturesque streets of towns like Monteriggioni are transformed into picture-perfect Medieval scenes.
It’s virtually impossible to give you a complete list of all the festivals around the region – just believe us when we say that even the smallest village has its own summer entertainment. Mostly revolving around food, wine, music, and exhibitions.
Here you find a few of the most famous, long standing ones. Enjoy!
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Tuscany Top Summer Events
GAMES, JOUSTS AND MEDIEVAL REENACTMENT
CALCIO IN COSTUME, FLORENCE (24th of June) – A mixture of football and rugby played out in historical costume, with plenty of violence thrown in. This happens in Piazza Santa Croce in Florence on the 24th June. Don’t miss the amazing parade through the city. Competitive, loud, and action-packed – TICKETS REQUIRED.
PALIO Historic Horse Race, SIENA (Twice a year: 29th June – 2nd July; 13th – 16th August) – TICKETS REQUIRED FOR SPECIAL VIEWING POINTS – Arguably the most famous of all the festivals in Tuscany. A 900 year old horse race that turns Siena into a feast of multi-coloured banners and heartfelt competition. It’s a crowded, lively display of local rivalry in which horses race each other around the scenic Piazza del Campo.
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JOUST OF THE SARACEN, AREZZO (Third Saturday of June and first Sunday of September) –A Medieval jousting tournament in one of the best looking squares in Tuscany: Piazza Grande in Arezzo. Knights on horses charge a wooden target representing the Saracen shield. There’s a parade before the joust. Full of Medieval excitement, it’s one of the most entertaining of all the Festivals in Tuscany. TICKETS REQUIRED
GIOCO DEL PONTE- Battle of the Bridge, PISA (last Saturday of June) – Pisa gets very busy every June, and this game played on the Ponte di Mezzo, ends the month in great style. A parade in gaudy 15th century Spanish-style costumes precedes the game itself. FREE or 10 euro for seating.
MONTERIGGIONI DI TORRI SI CORONA (usually beginning of July) – Monteriggioni goes full Medieval, with markets and various performances. See Insta official page. TICKET REQUIRED, rates from 6 Euro.
BRAVIO DELLE BOTTI (Last Sunday of August) Montepulciano uses wine barrels for this physically demanding game. The competitors from the different districts have to push an 80 kilogram barrel uphill for over a kilometre, in the town centre which on this occasion gets decked out in Medieval decorations. – TICKETS 6 Euro for stands and stalls.
GIOSTRA DELL’ORSO (Joust of the Bear) PISTOIA (25TH JULY) – This is a jousting tournament in Medieval costume that honours the patron Saint James, set in the Cathedral Square. TICKETS: 22 euro for the seats, 8 for standing.
VOLTERRA AD 1398 – Held every year on the second and third Sunday of August, from 11am to 11pm, the Medieval festival in Volterra puts on various events, such as flag throwing, jugglers and craft markets to embrace the spirit of the Middle Ages. (for the full program and tickets see official site).
MERCANTIA, CERTALDO ALTO – One of our personal favourite of all Summer Festivals in Tuscany, Mercantia transform the picturesque hilltop town of Certaldo Alto in a magical world of music and theatre performances, jugglers, with over 100 artists performing. TICKET 15 Euro.
RELIGIOUS INSPIRED FESTIVALS
RIFICOLONA – Paper Lantern Festival in FLORENCE (7th September, evening. Parade from Piazza Signoria starts at around 8.30pm, going through Piazza Duomo and arriving in Piazza SS. Annunziata at around 9.30 pm) – FREE
VOLTO SANTO FESTIVAL– LUCCA The most important religious festivals in Lucca celebrates the holy crucifix known as the Volto Santo with a candle-lit procession Luminara di Santa Croce (13th September evening, Lucca’s city centre) – FREE
FOOD FESTIVALS THROUGHOUT SUMMER IN TUSCANY
CORTONA, Chianina Steak Festival – This prizes to be one of the oldest, and more acclaimed, food festivals in Tuscany. Since the ’60s, the scenic hilltop town of Cortona has hosted a food festival dedicated to the prized Chianina steak. It attracts devotees from Italy and abroad, that come to beautiful Cortona to also try other local meat specialties, sausages, local ham and cured meat served with ciaccia (local focaccia) – a must for carnivores! When? Weekend in mid-August.
PIOMBINO Fish Festival – A very popular and long-standing food festival celebrates local fish in the historic port of Piombino, south of Livorno. Usually on the last week of July.
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IMPRUNETA, Grape Festival -Another historic festival that’s been alive for almost a century, fills the small town of Impruneta with the scent of grapes – the Festa dell’Uva. It’s held throughout September (2nd, 3rd and 4th Sundays), to celebrate the highlight of the wine-growing year: the grape harvest. Impruneta, famous not only for its wine but also for its terracotta production, is the scene for a famous parade of floats, plus food and wine stands. A real experience!
All around the region, there are smaller food festivals, usually on weekends. A few examples: Street Food in San Casciano (June), Montespertoli Sagra della Pappardella and Festa del Vino Wine Festival (June), Sagra della Miseria in Colle Val d’Elsa (June), Expo Chianti Classico in Greve in Chianti (September), Barga markets and street food (July), Red Montalcino Wine and Food festival. These are just a sample of the thousands that happen during the Summer months – check out this site dedicated to Sagre (in Italian).
SEE OUR ARTICLE ABOUT THE TOP FOOD FESTIVALS IN TUSCANY
MUSIC SUMMER FESTIVALS IN TUSCANY
Music is the other great protagonist of the Tuscan Summer, with a great choice of open-air concerts throughout the season. Line-ups include Tuscany-born artists like Puccini and Andrea Bocelli, along with many well-known international rock and jazz acts.
Among the most famous are: Firenze Rocks, Estate Pucciniana in Torre del Lago, Lucca Summer Festival, Pistoia Blues Festival, Barga Jazz Festival – see our dedicated post about Top Music Summer Festivals in Tuscany for more details and dates, and where to get tickets.
READ ALSO:
* July in Tuscany: Top Things to Do
* 3 Tuscan Small Towns We Love to Visit in Summer
* 5 Top Summer Destinations in Italy
Author: Sabrina Nesi, born in Florence, founder of Lovefromtuscany.com, passionate about sharing the beauty of Tuscany and Italy with the world.
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