Highlights

Musical Festival
Throughout the month of May Florence hosts its largest classical musical festival with classical music concerts, operas and ballet performances offered at various locations throughout the month.

O Flos Colende
Florence's most famous landmark, the Duomo, plays host to a new kind of festival from now until September as O Flos Colende is quickly becoming the highest profile event of its type in the city. A wide range of music brings the old cathedral to life over the course of seven dates spanning the spring and summer - see below for more details.

Springtime of the Renaissance
A well overdue nod of appreciation to the city generally considered the birthplace and cradle of the great renaissance, Palazzo Strozzi hosts this special exhibition from March right through to September dedicated to the early days and features sculpture from 1400 to 1460.

Music - Rock / Pop - International

May 31st - Joe Satriani - Obihall
July 15th - Skunk Anansie - Obihall
June 2nd - Dead Can Dance - Teatro Romano di Fiesole
Sept 12th - David Byrne & St Vincent - Teatro Verdi

Music - Rock / Pop - Italian

May 4th - Francesco De Gregori - Teatro Verdi
May 17th & 18th - Modá - Mandela Forum
June 23rd - Jovanotti - Franchi Stadium

Music - Classical / Opera / Other

O Flos Colende - Concerts held at the Duomo

May 23rd - Vincenzo Mascioni plays the organ of the Duomo, which has seven thousand pipes.
June 14th - Tributes celebrating three anniversaries: Verdi (200th anniversary of birth), Britten (100th anniversary of birth) and Poulenc (50th anniversary of death).
June 24th - Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore: Cardinal Archbishop Giuseppe Betori will celebrate the Holy Mass, intersperse with Mozart and Schubert.
July 3rd - Music from the Archive of the Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore: Gerolamo Frescobaldi, Marco da Gagliano, Giovanni Maria Casini, Giovanni Battista Comparini, Filippo Vitali, Domenico Bartolucci and Michele Manganelli.
September 8th - Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra concert is dedicated to Bach and Ton Koopman.

More info at www.operaduomo.firenze.it

May Season

May 2nd-12th - Don Carlo (Verdi)
May 4th - Claudio Abbado
May 7th - Krystian Zimerman
May 11th - Zubin Mehta & Christian Lindberg
May 13th - Contempo Artensemble by Bruno Maderna
May 15th - Julian Prégardien & Michael Gees
May 16th - Daniel Barenboim
May 17th-25th - The Rape of Lucretia by Benjamin Britten
May 18th-25th - Maggio Bimbi (Children's Show) - Peter Pan
May 22nd - Anna Caterina Antonacci & Donald Sulzen
May 28th - Berio Day I & II
May 29th-31st - Il Farnace (Vivaldi)
30th May - Markus Werba & Marino Moretti
5th June - Regula Mühlemann & Tatiana Korsunskaya
6th June - Daniele Gatti
10th-13th June - Grandi Coreografi (Ballet)
17th-25th June - Macbeth (Verdi)
20th-23rd June - Maria Stuarda

More info at www.maggiofiorentino.it

Exhibitions

The Springtime of the Renaissance
Where: Palazzo Strozzi
When: now until August 18th
More info at www.palazzostrozzi.org

An Idea of Beauty
Where: Strozzina Centre for Contemporary Culture
When: now until July 28th
More info at www.strozzina.org

Permanent Exhibitions at the Nelson Mandela Forum
Human Rights
Life on Fire
Nelson Mandela - The Man
Leonardo Da Vinci's Machines
Every Day
More info at www.mandelaforum.it

Festival of Europe 2013 - aka The Blue Night
Series of events and meetings by personalities of the world of art, culture, academia etc assessing the state of the European Union.
When: 7th - 12th May
More info at www.festivaldeuropa.eu

Japanese Film Festival
Festival dedicated to Japanese Film.
When: 22th - 25th May
Where: Odeon Cine Hall, Palazzo Strozzi

French Romantic Piano Festival
Festival dedicated to French Romantic Piano classical music.
When: 30th May, 1st June, 2nd June
Where: Conservatorio Statale di Musica

Norma et Capriccio
Exhibition of Spanish artists in Italy during the early mannerist period.
When: now until 26th May
Where: Conservatorio Statale di Musica

Fabbrica Europa Festival
20th international festival dedicated to contemporary theatre, dance and the visual arts.
When: 2 May - 19th June
More info at www.fabbricaeuropa.net/en/

Sport

Football

Florence's football team is called Fiorentina and plays in the top tier of Italian football, Serie A. Home fixtures, played at the Stadio Artemio Franchi (Stazione Campo di Marte), for the remainder of the season are as follows:

May 4th - AS Roma
May 12th - Palermo

Motor Sports:

On the 2nd June, the Barberino di Mugello welcomes competitors and fans for the FIM MotoGP World Championship!!