Maggio Musicale Fiorentino

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The Maggio Musicale Fiorentino is an annual music festival organized in the city of Florence since 1933 thanks to the initiative of Luigi Ridolfi Vay da Verrazzano, the conductor Vittorio Gui and the honorable Carlo Delcroix.
This event originates from the ancient tradition of the musical festivals in May, with the presence of the “cantamaggio” and the “maggiolai” who sang serenades and “maggiolate”, the special compositions that were sung for the occasion. These dances, music and theatrical performances were designed to celebrate the ancient joy of living, they served to pay homage to a floral and carefree season that removed the sad and gray winter from the memory.

This celebration was originally known as Calendimaggio, involved the whole city and took place throughout the month of May. Originally pagan, the festival combined religious and pagan elements, with processions, open-air masses and street celebrations. During this month, young boys and girls sang “maggi” and danced in the streets, with their heads adorned with garlands of flowers, and visited the homes of engaged girls, receiving flowers in return. The tradition included the gesture of hanging flowering branches from the windows of the houses of the most beautiful girls.

To date, the festival takes place at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, which is located between the monumental center and the Cascine Park, the green lung of the city, and has become one of the most important events in Italy, and also in Europe together with Salzburg and Bayreuth. The festival has hosted and still hosts some of the most important artists and musicians in the world, contributing greatly to the dissemination and promotion of Italian and international musical culture.