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an insider's guide to Florentine nightlife Summer Nights
[Anna Magazzù]
As temperatures go up, many Florentine nightspots are well into their Summer programs, providing a variety of options for locals and visitors alike to stay up into the small hours and recover from the sultry heat of the day.Many venues have already opened the doors to their gardens; others have moved outdoors and several squares in the city center have been fitted to host live entertainment. The numerous Festivals dotting every corner of the city bear witness to the well established dynamism of Summer nightlife in Florence: Jazz & Co in piazza Santissima Annunziata, Vie di Fuga at Le Murate, Rime Rampanti by Le Rampe di San Niccolò, Festa dell'Unità in the Fortezza da Basso, Notti d'Estate in piazza Santo Spirito are all very successful yearly appointments - and most of them do not even charge an admission ticket!
In piazza Santissima Annunziata the Jazz & Co festival will last until July 27th providing jazz and jazz-related live music as well as classical, ethnic and lounge music. There is a restaurant and bar open nightly and concerts start at 9pm; every Wednesday lounge aperitiv night from 8pm. From July 1st to 21st there is also an exhibition of photos published by Danish and Italian magazines.
Located in via dell'Agnolo between viale Giovane Italia and piazza Ghiberti you will love the impressive scenery offered for the eighth year running by the Vie di Fuga program in the courtyard of Le Murate, a building formerly used first as a convent and then as a jail. Throughout the Summer, Vie di Fuga provides live music and other events every evening around 9.30pm, followed later by music selections with a variety of djs. You can also have dinner with pizza and cold dishes from 8pm to 1am. Admission is free except for a few special events, and the venue is indeed one of the most popular with the locals.
Across the Arno not so far from Le Murate, Rime Rampanti offers every evening from 7pm an outdoor restaurant and bar hosting live music performances and other side-events. The venue is in piazza Poggi just below the piazzale Michelangelo, with fine views over Porta San Niccolò and the river. In July there will be the 5th 'Europa dei Sensi' Festival, offering three weeks of events dedicated each to the Spanish-speaking, English-speaking and French-speaking countries. These will be followed by a Jewish festival.
Walk downstream along the Arno and you'll soon get to another popular destination: piazza Santo Spirito. For the whole of July, the square will come alive every night with music performances, special events and shows.
But that's still far from everything: from July 16th to August 9th the yearly Festa dell'Unità will cause many clubs and cafés to "transfer" their premises to the Fortezza da Basso. Formerly a Medici fortress, this is the city's leading venue for trade fairs - conveniently located hardly a few minutes' walk from Santa Maria Novella railway station - but also hosts a number of events and festivals throughout the year.
This year's surprise on the Florentine scene is a new nightspot set up in the forecourt of the Stazione Leopolda (between Porta al Prato and the Cascine Park) by two popular local event organizers: Controradio and Nozze di Figaro. Every night until the end of August from 6pm to 1.30am there will be eating and drinking, djs, live concerts, short film and video nights, performances and poetry readings, as well as an exhibition by Brazilian artist Batman Zavareze.
In case you still haven't had enough, you can wind up your long night out in one of the nearby famous discos. In fact if you like clubs you shouldn't miss Central Park and Rio Grande, both by the Cascine Park and popular for their large outdoor spaces You will be able to dance to your favorite kind of music in one of their many dancefloors playing hip hop, house, funky, techno, commercial, latin-american, happy and live music. They even organize tasty buffets.
In the immediate surroundings of Florence, the town of Scandicci (about 20 minutes away by bus) holds its summer program in the Park of the Acciaiolo Castle. The program provides a variety of events with Italian and international artists: concerts, ballets, theater and comedy performances as well as a circus festival. Admission is free of charge and there are a restaurant and bar open daily from 7pm till midnight.
Have fun!
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