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Florence on June 24th - St. John's Pageantry and Festivity Advice

Posted by (San Diego, California, USA) on

Hello All, has anyone been in Florence for the San Giovanni - aka St. John the Baptist - festival and have advice?

I don't think we're going to do the bloody Calcio Storico Fiorentino - Florence's football+rugby+MMA mashup - since it's not really our thing and tickets have become really hard to get in the last couple of years. But we would like to experience the rest of the festivities from the historic parades, maybe boat rides on the river, and the fireworks of course.

If anyone has been there and has any advice on what to do or not do or other input I'd appreciate hearing it.

We're staying right by the Duomo/Baptistry so we'll be in the thick of the early morning action. I'm counting on most regular things being closed that day for the celebration so I'm thinking that festivity related activities are what we should be concentrating on. Is that correct?

Thanks,
=Tod

Posted by
16176 posts

The procession starts from Palazzo Vecchio (City Hall) and ends at the Duomo (San Giovanni Baptistry).
I think it starts around 10am.

Boat trips are organized by the Renaioli.
http://www.renaioli.it/

Nothing much is closed. Sunday schedules are in effect, so some shops may be closed (not all, and probably not many in the historical center) but museums, restaurants, bars, cafes, etc. are open.

I think they now limit the number of people that can be along the river between the 2 bridges Ponte Alle Grazie and Ponte San Niccolò (since the terrorist attacks in Nice a few years ago) so if you plan to see the fireworks (“fohi” in Florentine) from there you might have to get there a bit earlier than 10pm when they start. They are also visible from East of the Ponte San Niccolò, where I don’t think they have restrictions.

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