December 19, 2023

What to do on New Year's Eve in Florence

Our guide to all events to celebrate the start of the New Year

From dinners at restaurants to events in the squares, the menu of events for the Florentine New Year's Eve is rich again this year. Here are all our best tips on what to do on the evening of 31 December 2023.

If you want to spend New Year's Eve in good taste and elegance, here are the menus of the most beautiful restaurants in the city where you can experience a truly magical New Year's Eve night.

If, on the other hand, you prefer to stay outdoors, there are many concerts and initiatives in the city's main squares. In Piazza della Signoria, the arengario of Palazzo Vecchio is the heart of New Year's Eve and hosts a show organised by the Municipality of Florence and MUS.E featuring Diodato, the famous Italian singer-songwriter and former winner of the Sanremo Festival, who will perform a selection of songs from his repertoire. Thanks to the collaboration with the Andrea Bocelli Foundation - Ente Filantropico, Andrea Paris, ABF Advocate and comedian-performer directly from the Zelig stage, and singer and songwriter Cecille, who has performed several times alongside Andrea Bocelli, will also perform on the same stage. Also scheduled are performances by saxophonist Eleonora Fiorentini, pianist Xing Chang, and opera singers Gianpiero Delle Grazie, Antonio Mandrillo and Martina Tragni, talents from the ABF Masterclasses in Opera Singing and Chamber Music for Piano and Winds.

In Piazza San Giovanni, the Musart Gospel Choirs feature three groups representing local and international contemporary gospel music, The Pilgrims, the Academy Singers Choir and the Maryland Gospel Singers, with an artistic expression that can speak to everyone, fitting perfectly into the context of Piazza del Duomo. The evening's countdown is entrusted to Eva Edili, journalist and radio speaker. Appointment from 10 pm to 1 am.

In Piazza del Carmine The Night of Wishes by Anfiteatro 2010 combines music, entertainment and party to celebrate the arrival of the New Year by collecting the wishes and hopes for 2024 expressed by Florentine citizens and tourists present in the city on 31 December, which will be published on a special social channel and read out in the square during the event. The conduction of the event is entrusted to the radio network Radio Bruno. Appointment from 10 pm to 1 am.

In Oltrarno and Piazza Santo Spirito Music Pool's 'Oltrarno on the road' will enrich the night of New Year's Eve in Florence with the participation of three marching bands, spreading music through the streets of Oltrarno and Piazza Santo Spirito. The three musical groups Fantomatik Orchestra, Sound Street Band and Bandão will meet the public through the particular modality of quality street music. Appointment from 10 pm to 1 am.

In Piazza Santissima Annunziata, Circolo Exwide's 'Jazz New Year' presents two absolute protagonists of Tuscan and national jazz: Nico Gori, present with his famous swing tentet in the name of classic 1930s dance music, and Gianluca Petrella, acclaimed instrumentalist and composer, also with a wide-ranging line-up and a sound that ranges between jazz and electronics. Appointment from 10 pm to 1 am.

In Piazza Santa Croce 'Il Grande ballo degli Orsi' by Toscana Classica pays tribute to Maestro Sergio Staino with the involvement of three dance schools (Songo Bongo, Tango Firenze and Dance Lab). The Toscana Classica orchestra, together with the Ensemble Quattro Corde orchestra from Odessa (Ukraine) conducted by Maestro Taddeo, will perform music in classical Viennese style, including polkas, mazurkas and tangos with a tribute to Piazzolla and traditional waltzes. Appointment from 10.45 pm until 1 am.

In addition to the events in the square, there is no shortage of theatre performances. At the Teatro della Pergola, at 9 pm Pierpaolo Sepe directs Giuliana De Sio and Alessandro Haber in Massimo Carlotto's adaptation of his novel of the same name, La signora del Martedì. The Teatro del Maggio takes us to China with Shen Yun, an event not to be missed, an explosion of perfectly coordinated colours ready to amaze young and old alike. At the Puccini Theatre a brilliant and moving, at times irreverent show awaits you: Piccole donne Crescono? With Anna Meacci, Chiara Riondino and Daniela Morozzi. The Teatro Verdi hosts the musical Cabaret, with Arturo Brachetti and Diana Del Bufalo. Here are all the other shows not to be missed in Florence during the festive season.

For classical music lovers, there will be two concert events: the New Year's Eve Opera Gala in the church of Santa Monaca at 10 p.m. with Maestro David Boldrini conducting. The programme includes arias and duets from La Traviata, La Bohème, Tosca, Le nozze di Figaro and The Barber of Seville. And then the New Year's Eve Gala Concert at St. Mark's Anglican Church at 9 p.m., where a combination of Italian opera and Viennese operetta music will be performed.