5 ideas for spending Ferragosto in Tuscany

In Florence, the San Salvi Ferragosto Festival brings music and shows to a place steeped in the city’s history. The area, once the site of a psychiatric hospital, is now a cultural space open to the public thanks to the work of Chille de la Balanza, a theater company behind the San Salvi Città Aperta project. 
August 15 - once a particularly painful day for patients of the former psychiatric institution, marked by isolation and abandonment - is transformed every year into a celebration dedicated to togetherness and sharing. 
The traditional concert in the park is one of the most highly-anticipated events of the Florentine Summer and brings prominent musicians to the stage, offering an original and engaging way to celebrate the Ferragosto holiday.

For lovers of historical reenactments, there is nothing better than watching the Saracen Joust on the day of Ferragosto in Sarteano: a challenge on horseback of medieval origin in which five districts try to defeat a wooden statue, the enemy Saracen. 
The challenge is preceded by a very impressive costume parade.

The beautiful setting of Campiglia Marittima, a medieval village on the Etruscan Coast, opens its doors in the month of August to the ApritiBorgo festival of theater and street arts, with events and shows scattered throughout the historic center.
The event combines shows and local culinary tradition and the final evening is on Ferragosto.

For those who want to travel back in time and experience the legendary atmosphere of the 1950s and 60s for a few hours, in Castiglion Fiorentino, the Vintage Festival takes place during the week of Ferragosto.
The historic village center takes on a new life, with vintage cars and motorcycles on display along the streets and vintage markets, live music and dance performances in the squares.
An interesting Vintage Market will also be set up along the streets of the village center and more than 100 artists will be performing.