From Boccaccio’s political career in Palazzo Vecchio and two icons of French fashion at Prato’s Museo del Tessuto to cinema festivals and concerts in cenacoli, here are your best events this week.

We spent Wednesday at Manifattura Tabacchi for a full day of in-person meetings and creative workshops. The event built on the Connect Florence community afternoon organized by MACA District, CEA CAPA, and Destination Florence.

Manifattura Tabacchi recently announced that 70% of the project has been completed, having begun in 2018, with the urban regeneration project on the 110,000 square meter site expected to be completed by 2028.

Expectations for Netflix’s The Monster of Florence were high in our city, though as usual we were ready to indulge in our municipal pastime of complaint. This time, it’s warranted. Read the full review: https://www.theflorentine.net/2025/10/27/netflix-monster-of-florence/ Image from Netflix

Anbi Toscana and the Northern Apennines District Basin Authority will carry out the River Eye project, aimed at monitoring and quantifying waste in Tuscan rivers.

November 20 FRIENDSGIVING DINNER Fuoco Matto, 7.30pm Make new friends as we get together a week before Thanksgiving at Fuoco Matto, savouring regional wines and raising money for a local charitable organization The American-International League of Florence.  Book your place: theflr.net/nov20

BuyFood Toscana 2025: A 3-day tour of Lamporecchio, Pistoia, Garfagnana and Lucca uncovers the traditions and challenges behind Tuscany’s finest PDO and PGI foods.

Everyone’s favourite pharmacy Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella is currently displaying awork by David Hockney in the historic halls along via della Scala in Florence.

Builder and socialist leader Gaetano Pilati fought for workers’ rights and veterans’ dignity. 100 years ago, he was brutally murdered by Fascists.

From November 1-9 the Festival dei Popoli sees a 12-film tribute to film director Sarah Maldoror, plus many more women trailblazers in cinema.

Call for submissions! Join The Florentine and Florence Literary Society for a flash fiction contest to capture the essence of Florence in 150 words or fewer.

From November 1, Florence can turn the heat on. According to Italy’s national heating regulations, Zone D (which includes Florence and most of Tuscany) allows heating from November 1 to April 15, up to 12 hours per day.

Take a turn around the Textile Arts Fair or wander through The Path to Paradise exhibit at Palazzo Vecchio’s Sala d’Arme. Here are your best events this week.

TOKENS OF AFFECTIONS: The November Issue of The Florentine is out today! Cover photo by Marco Badiani at Istituto degli Innocenti 🗞️ Get your copy: https://www.theflorentine.net/prodotto/issue-327-giving-back-issue/ 🖼 Subscribe: https://www.theflorentine.net/subscription/

On the 90th anniversary of Santa Maria Novella train station, we revisit the story of Nello Baroni's revolutionary clock that sits on its façade.

Enter the world of slow fashion, traditional craftsmanship and innovative reuse for a weekend of woven wonders as the Textile Arts Fair returns to piazza Santa Croce from November 1-2.

The European Central Bank Governing Council is meeting at Banca d’Italia in Florence on October 29 and 30 to discuss monetary policy and the digital euro.

Here's how to celebrate Halloween in and around Florence.

Esther Tadjiev, founder and owner of The Parlour luxury nail salon along riverside borgo San Jacopo, talks about what drives her and the challenges faced in running a business in Florence.

As part of the widest ranging exhibition of Italian Renaissance drawings for over half a century in Scotland, 45 works are on display as part of Drawing the Italian Renaissance at The King’s Gallery, Edinburgh.

Brooklyn-based contemporary artist KAWS is filling the courtyard of Palazzo Strozzi with a site-specific installation.  Read more: https://www.theflorentine.net/2025/10/28/kaws-in-the-courtyard-of-palazzo-strozzi/

Netflix’s "The Monster of Florence": A dark chapter of Florentine history gets the Netflix treatment, but the series never lives up to the morbid richness of its source material.

In 1954 A halted football match in Florence, an eerie encounter in Arezzo and glowing skies over Rome left Italy searching for answers. https://www.theflorentine.net/2025/10/22/ufos-1954/

Michelangelo’s River God is back at Accademia delle Arti del Disegno. It was donated by Bartolomeo Ammannati in 1583 to support the study of young artists. Now it's been reinstalled in a specially designed room.

Dive deep into David Doubilet’s Oceani exhibition at Villa Bardini and see world leaders on stage at Teatro Niccolini. Here are our Best Events of the Week from October 23 to 30.

In September, the International School of Florence’s Junior School Cantabile Choir shared the stage with internationally acclaimed Israeli singer-songwriter Noa in the magnificent Salone dei Cinquecento at Palazzo Vecchio.

I Gigli mall, 30 minutes from central Florence, starts the autumn with new shopping experiences centred on emerging trends.

Siena welcomes a new jewel of high-end hospitality a short distance from the city: Villa Ermellina.

The new Synlab Manifattura Firenze medical centre has been officially inaugurated. The largest facility ever built in Italy by the Synlab group, the hub was developed with an investment of 8 million euro.

EUI and UNICEF launch a programme bringing together young migrants and citizens to promote leadership skills, empathy and civic engagement. 

On October 15, The Florentine community gathered at the 25hours Hotel Florence for a special encounter with our founding editor, Nita Tucker, in conversation with best-selling financial author David Bach.

The large-scale Florence Biennale brings hundreds of artists and designers from all over the world, while underwater photography and supercars also make our diaries this week.

The facilities at Villa Il Tasso have been upgraded to accommodate the training activities of young scholars, with the aim of eventually opening the villa for public visits, thanks to the support of Fondazione CR Firenze, a non-profit supporting cultural activities in the Florence area.

Serbian Princess Elizabeth Karadjordjevic, explains how the time she spent in Florence was one of the most vivacious chapters in the incredible story of her life, and recalls her family’s ties to Villa Demidoff, the estate guarded by Giambologna’s Apennine Colossus.

On the masthead of this newspaper, I am listed as the founding editor. I have been given—and greedily have accepted—the credit for starting The Florentine. But I’d like to set the record straight.

Despite a national shift to the right, the Democratic Party incumbent Eugenio Giani is re-elected President of Tuscany, though turnout drops to 47.7%.

MUS.English returns, the English course taught by native speakers that combines art and language learning.

If you’re looking for a different Tuscan town to explore, take the train to Castelfiorentino, where the newly opened CAMBIO Cultural Centre has added renewed appeal.

The Tuscan Region has reopened public funding to reduce the cost of early childhood education services that are municipally run or managed by non-municipal public bodies.

Having announced its closure last March, the much-loved toy store Dreoni recently inaugurated a new store at piazza delle Cure 7r.

Tuscans will decide who will manage their region on Sunday, October 12, and Monday, October 13, 2025. Let's discover the candidates:

A sustainability-centered plant fest, the memory of the Middle Ages, and open days at historic homes are some of the topics to explore in this week’s best events lineup.

Destination Florence Magazine: Issue 14 is out now! Download for free: www.theflorentine.net/prodotto/df14/

The exhibition at Villa il Palmerino until December 16 explores the artist’s still lifes and intimate spaces, in dialogue with Lola Costa.

The 15th edition of the Florence Biennale brings together over 550 artists and designers from 85 countries across 5 continents, presenting more than 1,500 works that respond to the central theme: The Sublime Essence of Light and Darkness: Concepts of Dualism and Unity in Contemporary Art and Design.

On show from September 27 to February 22, the smoky cabarets, bustling cafés and electric nights of the city on the brink of modernity are at the heart of the works on show.

Painted with piety: Florence celebrates Fra Angelico with an outstanding exhibition.

Yearning for a Room With a View moment with Grand Tour vibes?  You’ll find it during Afternoon Tea at The British Institute.

Explore Niki de Saint Phalle’s enchanting Tarot Garden in Capalbio, a fusion of sculpture and myth, and discover how her granddaughter Bloum Cardenas sustains this visionary work for future generations.

Temperatures may be falling, but the number of things to do in Florence never does. October is here and brimming with art, theatre, ceramics, fashion and more. Keep watching the reel and choose your favourite.