Tuscany · San Quirico d'Orcia · rievocazione
Barbarossa Festival
Festa del Barbarossa
june· verify before attending
Third weekend of June the four quarters of San Quirico d'Orcia stage a costumed reenactment of Frederick Barbarossa's 1155 visit. Daytime: a working medieval marketplace inside Horti Leonini; evening: archery contests between quarters and a torchlit procession from Collegiata to the rocca. The town stays in costume for three days.
NoteMarketplace pays in medieval coin — exchange at the gates. Streets close to vehicles for the weekend.
San Quirico d'Orcia
84 km from Florence · pop. 2,572
Source
Related
May 24·Massa Marittima· verify before attending
Crossbow Tournament (May)Balestro del Girifalco (maggio)
Held twice a year — fourth Sunday of May and second Sunday of August — Massa Marittima's three terzieri compete in medieval crossbow archery in front of the cathedral. Ten archers per terziere fixed-distance shots at a wooden falcon. Costume processions drum corps banner throwing fill the morning. The town has been hosting versions of this since the thirteenth century.
Jun 19 – 21·San Gimignano· verify before attending
Harvest Festival of San GimignanoFerie delle Messi
Each June San Gimignano's four quartieri reset the town to its medieval calendar for a long weekend. Costumed processions weave between the towers; archers and falconers compete in the piazze; banquets in each quartiere serve dishes pulled from medieval recipe books. The closing is a Cavalcade of the Knights — a real timed joust on horseback.
Jul · Aug·Anghiari· verify before attending
Checkered TableclothTovaglia a Quadri
For roughly two weeks each summer Anghiari's main square becomes a long communal table dressed in checkered cloth. A four-course Tuscan dinner is served between scenes of an original play written for that year — the script changes annually the format doesn't. Locals and visitors share benches; the food is regional the wine is local the play is in Italian but visual.
Jul · Aug·Barga· verify before attending
Opera Barga
Founded in 1967 Italy's oldest summer opera workshop runs young singers and conductors through full productions performed in Barga's eighteenth-century theatre and outdoor at the Duomo. The town fills with rehearsing voices for six weeks each summer; the closing concerts pull professional opera-goers from across Europe.
May·Lucignano· verify before attending
Maggiolata of LucignanoMaggiolata Lucignanese
Lucignano's circular medieval streets host a parade of flower-covered allegorical floats on consecutive Sundays in May. Each of the town's quartieri builds a float around a yearly theme; the vehicles inch through the spiraled streets while costumed troupes sing maggi — traditional spring songs. The whole thing closes with a vote and a procession of the winning float.