Saturday 6th ‘Grand Christmas Parade’ and Sunday 7th ‘Polar Express’
with lots of games for children. Monday 8th inauguration of ‘La Via dei Presepi’ (The Way of the Nativity Scenes)
– SHOPS OPEN –
Music and artistic gymnastics, community games, Christmas market, Christmas carols and readings, and the unmissable ‘Via dei Presepi’ (Nativity Scene Trail). Christmas comes alive in Castelfiorentino, which is preparing to host a long weekend of events, from Saturday 6 to Monday 8 December. It all begins on Saturday afternoon with the opening of the Christmas market and the ‘Grand Christmas Parade’, which starts at 4.30pm (departure from Arco della Costa) and will feature the artistic gymnastics students of Polisportiva I’ Giglio, the ‘G. Verdi’ Philharmonic Orchestra and the districts of the Palio (tree lighting at 5pm).
For all children who want to meet Santa Claus in person, the appointment is on Sunday 7 December (from 3.30 pm) at the “Casina di Babbo Natale” (Santa’s House) in Piazza Gramsci (in the centre of the market), where sweets and a small surprise will be handed out and it will be possible to take a souvenir photo (there will also be a brand new “Mrs Claus”). This will be followed by ‘Polar Express,’ a large travelling game ‘in search of Santa Claus’ that will take place in four different locations. Participants can pick up free game cards at shops participating in the initiative, and after finding the location and time of the game on the back, they can go to the indicated location: from the “Pallina d’oro” (via Bovio, 5 p.m.) to the “Christmas tree” (Piazza Cavour, 5.30 p.m.), from the ‘Fiocco di neve’ (Museo Be.Go., 6 p.m.) to “Babbo Natale e i desideri” (Piazza Gramsci, 6.30 p.m.). There are numerous prizes to be won. The game cards can be collected from the following shops: La Futura, Vita di Romanella, Selandia Viaggi, Benetton, Ottica Bastianoni, Libri & Persone, Isa Intimo, Spinelli, AR Stilisti per Capelli. Cappellini, Retrò, Oz, Tato e Tata, La Fonte del gelato, Cianchi, Sinergia, Civico 73, Mareblu.
On Monday, 8 December, again in the afternoon, there will be the traditional chestnut roast in Piazza Gramsci, the charming Christmas market enriched by Christmas “readings” at Santa Claus’s “Casina”, Christmas carols will be sung throughout the streets of the town centre and, at 4 pm, the ‘Via dei Presepi’ (Nativity Scene Trail) will be inaugurated (starting from Arco della Costa), with over 40 artistic and original nativity scenes scattered throughout the upper historic centre, some of which are truly innovative in terms of creativity and technological ingenuity. To discover and admire them one by one, a map is also available on the website www.comune.castelfiorentino.fi.it and on the Facebook page “La via dei Presepi a Castelfiorentino”.
