Florence's paper lantern parade lights up a September of festivals

Florence's traditional paper lantern parade, the Festa della Rificolona, is among the events The Local Italy highlights in its roundup of 19 things not to miss this September. The annual procession, in which children carry brightly coloured paper lanterns through the city's streets, marks the eve of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary and has deep roots in Tuscan folk tradition.

The Local's September list also includes an internationally attended literature festival in Mantua, placing Florence's lantern parade within a broader revival of cultural events across Italy as the summer holiday season winds down and the 'rientro' — the return to work and routine — begins.

For Florence, the Rificolona is more than a tourist attraction. It is one of the few civic festivals that still belongs to the city's residents, a counterweight to the postcard image of the Renaissance capital that draws millions of visitors each year.

The Rificolona dates back centuries, when farmers and peasants from the surrounding Tuscan countryside would travel to Florence on the eve of September 8 to sell their wares at the market near the Basilica of Santissima Annunziata. The lanterns, known as 'rificolone', were originally carried to light the way on the long journey into the city. Over time, the practical custom became a celebration, with children parading through the streets holding elaborate paper constructions.

The festival has survived waves of change that have reshaped Florence's historic centre, from the post-war rebuilding to the recent pressures of mass tourism. In an era when the city's medieval streets are often crowded with visitors, the Rificolona remains an occasion when Florentines reclaim their own public space, a detail The Local's roundup captures in its broader portrait of a country returning to its cultural calendar.

The Local's September list also points to a wider pattern: Italy's festival season, interrupted by the summer heat and the August exodus, resumes with vigour in the autumn. For Tuscany, this means a stretch of events that draw on both the region's deep heritage and its contemporary cultural life, from the lanterns of Florence to the literary gatherings of Mantua and beyond.

For visitors planning a September trip, the Rificolona offers a rare glimpse of a Florence that exists beyond the Uffizi and the Ponte Vecchio — a city that still gathers, as it has for centuries, to mark the turning of the season with light and paper.