Food Festivals in Florence

Fierucola di Santo Spirito is the organic farmers' and crafts market run by La Fierucola on Piazza Santo Spirito in Florence, every third Sunday except August, 9:00 to 19:00.

Florence's Christmas market fills Piazza Santa Croce with more than 50 wooden chalets from mid November, selling mulled wine, brezel, wurstel, strudel and Hungarian kurtoskalacs.

TipGo on a weekday evening. Stalls run 10:00 to 23:00 and the square is packed on December weekends.

The Immacolata edition of Florence's smallholder market takes over Piazza della Santissima Annunziata on 8 December, with new oil, ancient grain flours, honey, jams, cheeses and organic wine from Tuscan farms.

TipGo before 11:00 for the new oil. Producers sell out and the stalls pack up at 19:00.

Italy's craft beer award brings the 20 nominated brewers and the national Top 50 to the Teatro Cartiere Carrara for three tasting sessions, poured by the brewers themselves, with four street food stands alongside.

TipThe all-inclusive Beer Pass is capped and sells out. The Saturday evening session has the fullest taps.

Two days at Vivido in Manifattura Tabacchi where more than 70 growers from Italy and abroad pour their own bottles, an artisan wine fair built on labels that never reach ordinary distribution.

TipSunday runs 11:00 to 19:00 and Monday 10:00 to 18:00. Monday is quieter and easier for talking to growers.

Pitti Taste is Pitti Immagine's fine-food trade fair at the Fortezza da Basso in Florence, with the 2027 edition on 6 to 8 February under the Speak Food theme.

Four days of artisan chocolate in Piazza Santa Croce, with chocolatiers selling cremini, truffles, croccante and rum cuneesi, plus showcooking, guided tastings and life-size chocolate sculptures. Free entry.

TipOpen 9:00 to 20:00. Come before 11:00 on the Saturday; the sculpture work draws the crowd after lunch.

Florence counted 25 March as its new year until 1750, and the day still fills piazza della SS. Annunziata with a market of Tuscan typical products, sweets and brigidini, alongside the Republic's historic procession.

TipStalls open at 8:00. Shop in the morning; the procession reaches the basilica at 16:00 and the square fills.

On Easter Sunday a firework cart called the Brindellone is hauled to Piazza del Duomo by white oxen and set off by a mechanical dove flown down a wire from the cathedral altar, the omen Florentines read for the harvest.

TipStand near the Baptistry by 10:00. The cart is lit at 11:00 and the streets around close from dawn.

A whole day given to lampredotto inside the Orto San Frediano, an Oltrarno garden opened for the occasion: the classic panino dipped in broth, lampredotto in zimino or with artichokes, penne al ragu di lampredotto.

TipFree entry, no booking. Florence's trippai cook from 10:00 and the Chianti aperitivo starts at 18:00.

Firenze Gelato Week is ConGelato's six-day gelato trail: one ticket buys tastings at four Florence gelaterie, each serving a limited edition flavour made for the event.

TipPick a cup (2 tastes) or cone (3 tastes) ticket for the route, then visit the four shops: Edoardo il gelato biologico, Passera, Barroccino and Badiani. Each serves a limited edition flavour made for the week.

Florence Cocktail Week is the city's mixology week each April, in its tenth edition, with masterclasses, guest shifts and signature cocktails citywide.

Heir to the old Festa del Grillo, this Ascension Sunday fair lines viale Lincoln and piazzale Kennedy in the Cascine with over 200 stalls selling brigidini di Lamporecchio, salumi, porchetta and lampredotto.

TipArrive before noon. The food runs along the piazzale Kennedy end and the porchetta goes first.

Florence marks its co-patron on 10 August with free food in Piazza San Lorenzo from 21:00: pasta al ragu cooked by the Tuscan chefs' union, and about two tonnes of watermelon given out by the Mercato Centrale traders.

TipThe queue forms at the basilica steps before 21:00. The nearby Mercato Centrale stalls stay open late.

A cart stacked with about 1,500 straw-covered flasks of Chianti Rufina is pulled into piazza Duomo by Chianina oxen, blessed, then offered to the city, a wine harvest rite the Florentine Republic kept for centuries.

TipThe cart reaches the Duomo around 14:30. Follow it toward Piazza della Signoria for the flag throwers.