There will be a large “Wish Tree”, where children can hang a card with their dreams. The “Christmas House”, where they can have fun and perhaps pose together with their parents on a special set for an evocative souvenir photo.
And then there will be Christmas songs and music, the irrepressible “Father Christmases” on bicycles, the ever brighter “Street of Cribs”, games and reading activities, and the unfailing gastronomic and artisan market by the Castle.
Anticipation is growing for Christmas in Castelfiorentino, which from Saturday 30 November will light up the illuminations in the streets of the city centre with two exhibitions, both at the Cambio Cultural Centre: one of contemporary photography “Raccont’Arti”, which will be inaugurated after the award ceremony scheduled – also on Saturday 30 November (5:00 p.m.) – at the Teatro del Popolo, and the one dedicated to Banksy, the famous British street art, whose opening has been extended until the Epiphany, having registered great success.
Starting on Sunday 8 December (and on the following Sundays), Christmas will come to life with open shops and the lighting of the “Wish Tree” in Piazza Gramsci (obelisk area), while at the same time “Street of Cribs” will invade the streets of the upper historic centre with its original artistic creations, its lights, its colours and the majestic “Weather Crib” in the Church of San Filippo. There are many novelties in this edition, including the “Luminous Crib”, which from Piovanelli Park (its original location) will also affect other streets in the upper and lower historic centre through a number of installations (open: Saturday, Sunday and holidays 3:00 p.m.-7.30 p.m., closed 31 December). Also from Sunday 8 December, in addition to the Sunday shop openings, the gastronomic and craft market (organised by “Tre Piazze”) and the “Christmas House” (former Arena) will open with numerous entertainment activities for children organised by the Trivia and Cetra associations (as well as the photographic set organised by the “Giglio Rosso” group).
There will also be itinerant Christmas music (8-15 December), Christmas carols (15-22 December), “Father Christmases on Bikes” with the “Rotonda Monta e Scendi in Bike”, the inevitable roast chestnuts with AVIS, reading initiatives organised by the library (from 10 to 12 December, where there will also be an initiative on modern board games, organised by “Sistemi Ludici” on the 12th), drawing workshops at the Be.Go Museum (14 December), the School of Music brass band (15 December), “Adventures under the tree” (19 December, library), and Christmas initiatives at the Teatro del Popolo: the Christmas recital (21 December), the special New Year’s Eve recital (31 December, with Maria Cassi and Leonardo Brizzi) and the New Year’s Concert (1 January) organised by the School of Music, the Filarmonica “G. Verdi” and the association “Amici della Lirica Umberto Borsò”. Finally, an Epiphany with a thousand surprises.
“This year’s Christmas will be a community Christmas”, declare the Mayor Francesca Giannì and the Councillor for Events Franco Spina, “A choral and widespread celebration (spreading from the shopping area to the Parish Church), rich in ”different moments”, which stems from the contribution of the countless activities and associations of Castelfiorentino that deserve to be valorised and which we deeply thank. Whether it is experienced in a more secular or more religious spirit, more traditional or more modern, in fact, it is in any case a magical moment, capable of inspiring our actions, of putting our thoughts back into perspective, giving us an unexpected astonishment each time.
We would like to thank all the organisers, starting from Paolo Antilli as president of CCN Tre Piazze to all the organisations and associations that decided to join us in organising this Christmas, which will also serve as an experiment for future years.
A big thank you to Trivia aps, Associazione culturale Cetra, All’ombra di Membrino, Fondazione Teatro del Popolo, Museo BeGo, Cambio, Scuola Comunale di Musica, Amici della Lirica U. Borsò, Foto Giglio Rosso, La Rotonda, Avis.
We are waiting for you, to experience the city in a new frame, made of conviviality, meeting, reciprocity and renewal”.
