We are back again, ready for an all-night extravaganza of events this Tuesday April 30th in Florence, Italy – I am of course referring to Notte Bianca or ‘White Night’ the day before May Day – labor day and a national holiday. I am super excited as always since it’s a great excuse to meet up with friends and make Florence your Disneyland for at least one night. The very next day I will be on a jet plane to America for a month since I haven’t been back for a year and a half. Why not go home with a bang – aka leaving after celebrating white night till the wee hours before hopping on a flight!

Rumor has it that there will even be inflatable sculptures above in Piazza Santa Croce which, this girl – needs to see in person!

This year’s festivities will be under the direction of  Felice Limosani, with an array of music, art demonstrations, and festivities throughout the city, each inspired by the theme “volare,” meaning “to fly.” Expect to see more people than you probably want to {projected 100,000} – but everyone will surely be in a great mood and this year’s events look pretty unique!

What to expect? Special museum hours, the traditional coffee-cornetto at Palazzo Vecchio at 6am and of course, tight-rope walking, concerts, exhibits and more!

Keep Updated!

The official site has the full program of events as well as links to all of their social networks, twitter @NotteBiancaFi and don’t forget the official event hashtag –  #nottebiancafirenze.

A blogger friend of mine, Tiana wrote a great list of the events in english here and I am touching on what events I think shouldn’t be missed.

How to get there?

Also you might want to leave your car at home, buses  6,14,17,22,23 e 37  should be in use from 9pm until 6am, running all night – the tramvia included. More info on the bus schedules here.

Museums open all night? 

• As usual, many museums around town will be open until midnight. Participating locations include the Museo di Palazzo Vecchio 6pm-6am, Galleria degli Uffizi 6pm-midnight, Sinagoga & Museo Ebraico di Firenze 8-11.30pm (reservations required), Museo Casa di Dante & Museo Nazionale Alinari Fotografia 7-10pm, Museo Stefano Bardini, Museo Marino Marini, Museo S.M. Novella , Accademia di Belle Arti, Fondazione Salvatore Romano & Museo di Orsanmichele 7pm-midnight, Istituto degli Innocenti 8-11.30pm, Casa Siviero 9pm-midnight, Museo Gucci open all night until midnight.

What you shouldn’t miss! 

•  Tango in Piazza Santa Maria Annunziata. Three different time slots – 9pm, 9:45 and 10:30 and 100 dancers from the Tango Club in Florence performing Vuelvo al Su. After 10:30 there will also be Milonga dancers on display, cool! 

• Piazza degli Uffizi: 9pm, Taxi Milano 25 Onlu and Caterina Bellandi will be painting faces and of course, a clown car will be present. This I have to see.

• Piazza Santa Croce, floating sculpture by Plasticiens Volants sponsored by Ferragamo. 10pm, 10:30pm and 1am with a fun flash mob {grease style – are we surprised?} at 11.15pm.

• Spray Paint artists {de:strukt} at Piazza della Repubblica, talents from Glasgow, will paint on canvas with spray paint while six DJ’s accompany the artists with electronic music. , 8pm-11:30pm. 

• Porta San Niccolo, Volare Delrevés – Vertical dance and whatever that actually might entail. It is worth a visit! Visual by Felice Limosani. 9:30 – 11pm – 12:30am.

• Ponte Vecchio, special light installation: “Be Happy” by Felice Limosani – 9pm. Two things I like, shiny light & the Ponte Vecchio!

• Piazza Pitti, don’t miss a special performance by the The Belgians, “Theater Tol,” who will dance and pedal suspended in the magnificent Piazza Pitti, with replication in Piazza Santa Maria Novella.
• Piazza Ognissanti – Sky walk {tight-rope} Didier Pasquette Funambolo at 10pm, 11pm, midnight and 1am.

• Piazza della Calza, 1950’s Festival, musical performance by i Bar d’angolo, I Fratelli Raudo at 9:30pm.
  The Twisters at 11:30pm.

• Piazza della Signoria, Flying Bells – interactive installation by Felice Limosani at 8pm.

• Piazza Strozzi,  inside courtyard open to the public until midnight with a special contemporary art installation curated by Federico Gori. Of course afterwards you can dance to a special Dj set jazz, lounge and groove in the piazza all night long. If seeing a movie is more your thing you don’t want to miss “Los amantes pasajeros” a new film by Pedro Almodovar, original version {Spanish} with subtitled playing at the Odeon Cinehall at 10:30pm.

Kids events!

There are a ton of events for families to enjoy this edition of notte bianca a firenze! The ones that sound the coolest to me include:

• Palazzo Vecchio Museum– Short stories for families with kids 3 years old onwards – h. 5.30pm – h. 6.45pm – h. 8.30pm.  Also special ‘history of milk’ stories for families with kids 6yrs old and above. 6pm – 9pm. Reservations are required 055 2768224 – 055 2768558 email: [email protected]

• Biblioteca delle Oblate, Fiabe volanti: Stories in a hot-air balloon – Travel on  fantastic adventures with animated story-tellers organized by the Compagnia dei Nove Onlus h. 6.30 – 8.00 / h. 9.30 – 10.30

• Via Maggio – Via Maggio Kids, Design & Illustrations, Shows and workshops for children, for every age group!  7pm – 10pm.

• Piazza S. Ambrose “Vagamondo”  — Theatrical clowning with animation 8pm – 9:30pm.

• Teatro la Pergola — “The flying pirates and the treasure” from ‘island of the storm”. Games for children aged 6 to 11 years and adults collaborating loosely based on William Shakespeare. Free admission with reservations required 055 2264364 [email protected]. 8pm to 9pm.

To get your bearings for all of these fantastic events, check out and save the official map here. I really can’t wait to just wander and explore what this year has to offer. Sounds like a lot of acrobatic shows {obviously hence the theme being ‘flying’} , music {as usual} and light installations. It should be a good one, lets just cross our fingers that it doesn’t rain! Also don’t forget that on May 11 & 12th there will be the famous ‘Notte Blu’ or Blue Night – more info here! 

Buon Divertimento! Have fun everyone and who knows… we may just run into each other there!