Mercantia at Certaldo, Tuscany, one of the best street theatre festivals in Europe

Mercantia, one of the best street theatre festivals in Europe, takes place this year, 2026, from 15 to 19 July in the attractive mediaeval walled town of Certaldo, Tuscany. Certaldo consists of the ancient Certalo Alto, on its hilltop, and Certaldo Basso, the modern part of the town in the valley below. Certaldo is very likely the place where Boccaccio was born and he certainly lived there towards the end of his life and regarded it as his hometown. It's therefore appropriate that Certaldo should provide popular entertainment today in the form of Mercantia, its famous street theatre festival.

Mercantia Certaldo 2026

Mercantia Certaldo 2022

Mercatia Certaldo 2019

Mercantia at Certaldo 2016

The festival takes place in Certaldo Alto, the ancient upper town which can be accessed easily by funicular or on foot. Within the walls, there will be dozens of performers along the few streets of the town and also inside the courtyards, where stages are set up to host clowns and comedians, contortionists and acrobats, puppeteers and ventriloquists, magicians and illusionists, fire-eaters and dancers, actors and street musicians.

Mercantia street theatre festival at Certaldo, Tuscany

Tickets cost roughly €13.00 on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday, and €12.00 on Saturday, €15.00 on Saturday. If you are planning to visit Mercantia more than once, you can buy the 5-day pass for about €52.00.

Certaldo street theatre festival

 

In addition to the street theatrical performances in Certaldo Alto, Certaldo Basso is packed for the duration of the festival with street stalls selling hand-made jewellery, clothing, masks, various kinds of art, herbal remedies and beauty products, hand-crafted leatherware and shoes, and a wide range of other arts and crafts, all of varying quality and price. No ticket is required for Certaldo Basso. There are also some stalls in Certaldo Alto.

www.chianti.info

More about Certaldo.

Map of the main sights of Chianti. 

Festivals of Tuscany.

Travellers Guide to Chianti.

Author: Anna Maria Baldini

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Events and festivals in Tuscany during 2026

The new year has begun and now is the moment to think about events and festivals in Tuscany during 2026. If you're planning a trip to Tuscany, do look at our lists of folkloric festivals, jousts, archery and crossbow contests and numerous other events that take place in Tuscany during the course of the year. These range from the massive float parades of the Carnevale in Viareggio through the great mediaeval costume festivals to simple village food feste.

Huge processional float at Viareggio Carnevale

The festivals of Tuscany have become more and more polished and exciting in their presentation and yet remain genuine folk festivals dependent entirely on the enthusiasm of the local organisers, in many cases these being competing local contrade, rioni etc. These latter are clubs and societies based on the various residential quarters of villages, towns and cities, the most famous being the contrade of Sienna which enter their horses (and riders) in the famous Siena palio twice every year.

 The Palio in Sienna, Tuscany

In addition to annual or twice yearly events, there are always "unscheduled" occasions to see and even participate in Tuscan folkoric activities. Keep your eyes open for posters advertising upcoming local events in the town you are visiting or where you are staying. They are very often extremely worthwhile attending. One of the most popular of these activities in Tuscany, especially in Florence, are flag tossing groups - bandierai or sbandieratori - who train to become expert in synchronised flag throwing.

 

 Bandierai degli Uffizi di Firenze performing in Piazza Santa Maria Novella, Florence 

The competitions are almost always costume events with processions, and very often dinners and food stands play an important role. Look through our lists for local events taking place near where you will be staying, and in addition try to attend at least one major event during your stay.

The main Tuscan festivals.

A comprehensive list of local events and festivals in Tuscany.

Don't forget to visit Elena Spolaor's Travel Guide! Up-to-date news on what to see and where to stay in Chianti and all of Tuscany & Umbria. Chianti Travel Guide

Holiday accommodations in Chianti

Tuscany tourist information - tourist information

Author: Anna Maria Baldini

All content copyright © ammonet Infotech website promotion 2026. All rights reserved.

Truffle fairs, festivals and markets in Tuscany.

The white truffle season in Tuscany, October and November, is approaching so I'm listing here the upcoming truffle fairs, festivals and markets in Tuscany. As long as they are fresh, white truffles add a wonderful flavour to many Tuscan dishes, some of which exist only because of their truffle component. Note that I used the word "fresh" - after a few days out of the ground, the volatiles in the truffle will have dissipated completely, leaving behind something with the flavour of old cardboard. This is why people flock to these white truffle fairs - to buy fresh truffles and/or to eat dishes prepared on the spot with fresh truffles.

Fresh Tuscan white truffles for sale in San Miniato

Truffles fairs, truffle festivals and truffle markets in Tuscany

Mostra Mercato “Il Villaggio del Tartufo”
Loc. Ponte Presale, Sestino
Last week in September.

Mostra Mercato “Tartufi d’Etruria”
Arezzo
First weekend October.

Festival del Tartufo (Convivlio Enogastonomico)
Loc. Svolta del Podere, Badia Tedalda
Second week October – Middle of November.

Mostra Mercato del Tartufo Bianco e Nero
Barberino di Mugello
Last weekend in October.

Mostra Mercato del Tartufo e della Castagna
Montaione
Last weekend in October.

Mostra Mercato e Sagra del Tartufo e Prodotti Tipici Locali
Scarperia
First and second weekend in November.

Mostra Mercato del Tartufo Bianco del Mugello
Borgo San Lorenzo
Third weekend in November.

Mostra del Tartufo Bianco
Montespertoli
Third weekend in November.

Sagra del Tartufo Bianco
Loc. Corazzano, San Miniato
First Sunday in October.

Sagra del Tartufo Bianco
Loc. Balconevisi, San Miniato
Third Sunday in October.

Mostra Mercato del Tartufo Bianco e Rassegna sei Prodotti Enogastronomici della Val di Cecina
Volterra
Last weekend in October and first weekend in November.

Mostra Mercato del Tartufo Bianco delle Colline Sanminiatesi
San Miniato
Last three weekends of November.

Mostra Mercato del Tartufo Bianco delle Crete Senes
San Giovanni d’Asso
Second and third weekend in November.

Pasta with a sauce of mushrooms and truffle oil

Before setting out on a truffle-buying expedition, please be sure to educate yourselves on the subject of Italian truffle varieties and how to buy and prepare truffles.

Other fairs and festivals of Tuscany.

Market days throughout Tuscany by location.

www.bella-toscana.com

Author: Anna Maria Baldini

All content copyright © ammonet Italian Web Site Promotion 2015. All rights reserved.

Monteriggioni Mediaeval Festival (Festa Medievale)

Monteriggioni is a Tuscan village surrounded by one of the most intact curtain walls in Italy. The town is absolutely worth a visit and there is no better time to do so than during the Monteriggioni Mediaeval Festival (Festa Medievale) which takes place this year on 6-8 July and 13-15 July 2012. Tuscany is famous for its mediaeval festivals and the one taking place at Monteriggioni ranks among the best - as good or better than the Volterra festival.

Most of the inhabitants dress in mediaeval costume and man the stalls selling antique-style handicrafts, herbs and mediaeval food. There are excellent parades with jugglers, acrobats, stiltsmen and so on, plenty of early music and often a fabulous re-enactment of a mediaeval battle. The tamed birds of prey are especially interesting - not only hawks, but also owls and other birds. For children there are puppet shows and and a skilled illusionist, and for adults much street theatre.

More about Monteriggioni.

More festivals in Tuscany.

Author: Anna Maria Baldini

Places to stay in Chianti - villas, farmhouses, B&B rooms

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Volterra A.D. 1398 mediaeval festival

Every year in August, the beautiful Tuscan hilltop town of Volterra goes back to the middle ages for the Volterra A.D. 1398 mediaeval festival. The entire town dresses up and mediaeval trades, professions, music and food are on display everywhere. You can even rent a costume for the day, exchange your euros for some grossi (mediaeval coins) and have a good time spending them. In a country that has some of the greatest costume festivals in the world, the Volterra festival is right among the very best. It runs Sunday to Sunday, and in fact the Sundays are the best days to be here. In 2014, the festival dates are from 17th to 24th August. Don't miss it!

Volterra A.D. 1398 mediaeval festival

www.volterra.net/events.htm

www.chiantitravelguide.com

Much additional useful information for tourists visiting Tuscany is provided by:

www.chianti.info

www.bella-toscana.com

www.bella-umbria.com

Author: Anna Maria Baldini

All content copyright © ammonet website design and SEO 2012 - 2014. All rights reserved.

Tuscan events and festivals

Visitors planning their trips to Tuscany will probably be keen to attend any Tuscan festivals and events coinciding with their vacation dates and location. Some of these festivals are spectacularly good and even the smallest of village festas are fun and provide an insight into life in Tuscany.

Flag throwing at a Tuscan festival

Here's a link to an example of a local mediaeval festival known as “A cena da Messer Boccaccio”, a mediaeval dinner taking place in Certaldo. And I have reported on the great mediaeval costume festival at Monteriggioni here.

The major festivals are described at: Annual Festivals and Events in Tuscany.

As comprehensive a list as is possible of events in Tuscany (there are literarily thousands of festivals every year in Tuscany) is give at: Events in Tuscany.

Another way to enter into Tuscan life a bit is to buy your supplies at the nearest weekly open air market - or at least go there and have a look around. Markets are very informative about life in the community you're visiting! A list of the days of the week when these open air markets are held is give at: Market Days in Tuscany.

For those of you interested in Renaissance art, perhaps read my review of the 2013 Palazzo Strozzi exhibition, "The Springtime of the Renaissance".

Author: Anna Maria Baldini

Don't forget to visit Elena Spolaor's Travel Guide! Up-to-date news on what to see and where to stay in Chianti and all of Tuscany & Umbria. Chianti Travel Guide

Holiday accommodations in Chianti

Tuscany tourist information - tourist information

All content copyright © ammonet Infotech website promotion 2011 - 2016. All rights reserved.

Annual Events and Festivals in Tuscany

Italy is famous for the variety and high quality of the annual events and festivals in Tuscany and other regions. These feste fall into two broad, sometimes overlapping, categories: festivals of Christian (and sometimes pagan) origin and seasonal and/or food- and wine-based sagre (fairs). These annual festivals are characterised by a high level of local participation (often cited as contributing to the generally low youth crime rate in Italy outside of the big cities), high quality of costumes, floats and spectacles, and the great atmosphere and food. It is definitely worthwhile to make a note of any festivals taking place in your vicinity when you're visiting Italy - they form an important part of the "Italian experience".

Flag throwers at a festival in Tuscany

The festas and festivals of Tuscany website lists and describes the most important and popular events taking place in Tuscany during the course of the year.

Some important festivals of Umbria are listed on the city of Orvieto web site.

And there is a comprehensive list of major and minor annual events in Tuscany with dates but no descriptions on the Tuscany, Italy web site.

Author: Anna Maria Baldini

Vacation rentals in Chianti

The main sights of Chianti Italy

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Neighbourhood dinners in Chianti

Tomorrow night I'll be eating out in the street! Here in Chianti, we have neighbourhood clubs that organise dinners that are served at tables set up in a continuous strip down the middle of the main road of our quarter. Since all the labour is voluntary, for €15 we eat a five course dinner with wine and mineral water, and the opportunity to yak to all of our friends and neighbours. These dinners are open to anyone who buys a ticket which are available from shops in the quarter. So when you're visiting Chianti, look for hand written notices annoucing the event. This is a fabulous way to get to know genuine Tuscans in their native habitat - the dinner table.

Author: Anna Maria Baldini