New Year’s Eve in Florence

I love to travel during the New Year’s Eve period. Winter holiday are always quite magical and full of intimate atmosphere, but it is not always easy to organize a New Year’s Eve party away from home. Every place has its own traditions and its own way of celebrating the beginning of the New Year. We may often remain disappointed, because we wanted to have fun on a concert or we were looking for some delicious food, but instead we had to wander around an unknown place without having much to do.

To avoid this kind of unpleasant surprises, it is worth to organize something in advance and, first of all, to understand what are the local traditions for the New Year’s Eve. So, how the 31 December works in Florence?

Italians love to eat! Nothing new, I think, so you will not be surprised to learn that the most “Italian” way of celebrating the New Year’s Eve is a cenone, literally a big supper, that you will share with your friends or family. For Italians food means conviviality and a supper is the best moment to stay together, talk, talk, talk, eat some delicious food, drink good wine, laugh and relax. The cenone would be often organized at home, with friends and family, but today there are also many restaurants that offer you the possibility to pass a typically Italian New Year’s Eve. If you search on-line, you can find hundreds of restaurants in the town with every kind of menu: typically Tuscan, nouvelle cuisine, vegetarian and vegan food or, even, sushi. I am sure you will find a cenone that suits you best. If I was to dine out on 31 December I would take into consideration Konnubio in via dei Conti 8r or Cucina Torcicoda in via Torta 5r. Their menu seems quite particular with Stockfish mousse, home made cracker and fresh Piennolo tomato served as antipasto in Cucina Torcicoda and Tortelli with salted codfish served on creamy mashed purple potatoes offered by Konnubio. It is hard to choose between the two…

If instead of a delicious supper you prefer to have fun on an open-air concert, you may choose Piazzale Michelangelo and a big pop concert with music by Ermal Meta, Morgan and Raphael Gualazzi. There will be a lot of fun also because the concert will be moderated by a comedian Lorenzo Baglioni. Personally, I like Gualazzi the most, so here for you one of his songs:

If you love cinema and you always spend your New Year’s Eve in front of the silver screen, I have a good news for you: Odeon cinema organizes a special show at 9:45 pm. They will screen Wonder by Stephen Chbosky with Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson. It is an adaptation of the bestseller by R. J. Palacio. It tells the story of August Pullman, a boy affected by the Treacher Collins syndrome, who enters fifth grade, attending a public elementary school for the first time. It is a touching story about diversity and acceptance. The film will be screened in English with Italian subtitles.

Are there any Classical music lovers among you? Many Italians are true connoisseurs and the Opera and the symphonic music are an issue here. If if you enjoy this kind of entertainment, you will be happy to learn that the Florence Opera House prepared for the New Year’s Eve a splendid concert with Beethoven’s 9th Symphony in D minor op. 125 for soloists, choir and orchestra directed by Fabio Luisi. The organizers invited excellent soloists such as Marina Comparato and Anton Rositskiy. Undoubtedly, it will be an unforgettable evening. Here you can buy your tickets and make haste because they will end soon, I’m afraid!

A supper, an open-air pop concert, a movie or a Classical music – it all sounds fun, but what about a real party? Florence has many dance clubs where you can spend your New Year’s Eve with a drink and a lot of dance music. At Yab, for example, they organize a big, big party, with dance till the dawn. Here you can find more information about the evening, but this is only an example of a dance party. There will be more of them around the town! I am sure you will find a place that suits you best!

I hope that these few tips will be useful! Remember to have fun and whatever you do your New Year’s Eve in Florence will be simply perfect!