While we are so lucky to not have extremely cold weather yet { however the mosquitos are still alive and well at my house}, the holiday season is around the corner. If you had enough fun watching Americans trample all over themselves on black Friday via youtube then I have some events for you. One of my favorite things to do during this season is bundle myself up like a Michelin man and walk through the center looking at the pretty lights and enjoying the general buzz, maybe sneaking in an espresso or two. It’s a lovely time of year to be in Italy so enjoy all that our beautiful city has to offer. Here are my 2012 December list of events in Florence, Italy.

• MARKET/Weihnachtsmarkt German Christmas Market – Piazza Santa Croce (Florence), Nov 28 – December 16. Everyones {as in me} favorite christmas market is back and ready to sell you fuzzy slippers, a huge hot dog, soap from Provenance and of course, mulled wine – vin brulee. Well worth a walk-through but try and skip the weekend if your not looking to wade through crowds.

• CHRISTMAS MARKET/ Nataleperfile at Palazzo Corsini – Lungarno Corsini 8 {Florence}. December 7-9th from 10am – 7pm. Traditional christmas market held in a historical location – you can expect all sorts of good, including clothes and the famous Italian christmas cake – Panettone. More details are here.

• HANDMADE GIFTS/ “Bazart’ temporary christmas shop – via de macci 81/rosso {Sant’amrogio area}. The temporary shop hosted by the Cultural Association ARTEDOVE in Florence – has opened and it will remain open until 23 December. BazART is a melting pot of art, design, handmade products and fashion, where you can find accessories for your home, jewelry, baby products, clothes, pottery, all limited edition. All products are created by young designers and artists who showcase their own self-creation. BazART is also happens to be a cozy place with great music and gives everyone a chance to sip a cup of tea together around a samovar, share experiences and spend time with your friends. awesome!

• Christmas Bazaar/AILO – American International League of Florence , Le Pagliere – viale machiavelli 28 (Fi), December 8, 10-5pm. This charatible organization is holding their annual bazaar where the sale of goods will be donated to various charities.

• ART WITH FAMILIES/ Palazzo Strozzi is opening it’s doors on  8 December 2012 from 15.00 to 18.00. Inside the inner courtyard they will have a variety of events for families and special ticket prices. More info is here.

• KIDS HOLIDAY WORKSHOP/Making Gingerbread houses. Little Artists Firenze {Via Dei Serragli 120, Florence}  is offering a neat workshop on December 8th at 4:30pm for kids to construct gingerbread houses. The workshop will run roughly an hour and a half and they will provide all materials. Cost is €35 and you can reserve your place (by December 1) here.

• ICE SKATING/ Not just “shopping”  – the outlets at Barberino  also have an ice-skating rink for shoppers and their families to enjoy. and .. – it’s free! The rink will run from now until the 6th of January! Now if that isn’t an incentive to drive to Mugello (besides eating their famous tortellini) I don’t know what is!

• SPORTS/ Winter park at Obihall – lungarno aldo moro, Florence. {open every day from december 1 – january 27, 2013}. WOW, I really am shocked that they are making an outdoor artificial winter park complete with skiing and ice skating and it’s close to my house. Now of course I have to see this in PERSON, but I am really happy that something like this exists in Florence for those who can’t make it to the slopes. Apparently from December 20-23 you may even see ‘babbo natale’ on skis. Official brochure is here.

• CONFERENCE/ Cultural Heritage online. December 11-12 {Auditorium di SANTA APOLLONIA. via San Gallo 25a} –  3rd edition of the CULTURAL HERITAGE on line – Trusted Digital Repositories & Trusted Professionals Conference. How can we use digital resources to preserve our cultural heritage? Seems like a worthy conference to attend, you can find the full program and list of events here.

• ART HAPPY HOUR/ Aperitivo ad Arte – Palazzo Davanzati – Florence. {via porta rossa 13 at 7pm}. Every Friday until February 2013 . This is one of my favorite house-museums in Italy and if you haven’t been yet, this is more than a great excuse to go. Check out an example of a Florentine medieval house while sipping a great glass of wine. Reservations are recommended; call 055/294883.

• OUT OF TOWN/ KIDS –  Visit “Babbo Natale” – Santa Clause in Montecatini Terme. Until January 2013. Yes apparently Santa has left his post in Finland and came to…. Montecatini Terme. Enjoy a ‘christmas village’ where you can visit the big man himself, chat with his helper elves, send your christmas letters and more. More details here. or in english here.

• CONCERT/ Xmas in Jazz. December 23 – Teatro della Pergola, via della pergola. If you are a jazz fan and want do something fun two days before Christmas then I highly recommend checking this out. Official website here. 

• The official event list by the comune di Firenze.

Related articles

• Events this October in Florence & Tuscany (ggnitaly84.wordpress.com)
• The Future of Culture Heritage and Tourism in Florence (girlinflorence.com)
• AILO Christmas Bazaar: Donations of Toys needed (firenzemoms4moms.wordpress.com)
• Christmas Markets in Tuscany