Concerts, market, independent comics festival, workshops for children and the Circoli Arci Festival
It will be againSMS from Rifredi to act as a stage for Red Star Festil Arci Firenze festival from 3 to 7 July returns to the historic Casa del Popolo in Via Vittorio Emanuele II, a stone’s throw from Piazza Dalmazia, in its large outdoor space.
It will be there sixth edition for the celebration of the Florentine committee of Arci, which for five days will see over 150 volunteers involved in an edition animated this year too by concerts, DJ sets, meetings, dinners, workshops and debates.
“We are very happy with this edition of our party – explains the President of Arci Firenze Marzia Frediani – because we have managed to take a further step forward in the direction of increasing the free offer for girls and boys and for families, we keep the quality of the cultural offering and debates and we significantly reduce the impact of the festival, making it increasingly sustainable. And above all, we continue to propose a popular, inclusive, accessible festival for the neighborhood and for the whole city.”
The musica will also be a major protagonist of the Red Star this year: every evening on the stage there will be international artists and local talents. The first concert, on the opening night of Wednesday, July 3rd (starts at 9.30pm, all with free admission), will be entrusted to Giancanethe Roman singer-songwriter who will arrive in Florence for his Hot Summer Tour, after the recent successes in the collaborations for the soundtracks of the two successful Zerocalcare series on Netflix. Wednesday evening will end in the DJ set stage with the music of Calvè Dj.
Thursday 4 July it will be up to the Cacao Mentalthe band born in Milan but ideally raised in Lima, Peru, with its show of Electro Cumbia Psichedelica, new stage of the “Vamos baby Tour”. Followed by Electro / Cumbia dj set by Alma Sudaka, with a special selection of Argentine cumbia villera and electronic remixes of South American buena onda. The evening is organized in collaboration with Progeas Family.
Friday 5th July it will instead be an evening dedicated to local musical talents thanks to the collaboration with Flower on the Volcanowhich will see the opening of the Red Star on the stage John Milani at the live of the Florentine There, who will present his debut album, as a soloist, Masochismo pure pleasure (Matilde Dischi 2024) together with a band. Afterwards we will dance until 01.00 with Belle Parole Sound System, directly from the Circolo Vie Nuove in Gavinana.
Saturday 6 July the collaboration will instead be with Annibale Records, replicating a lucky partnership that has already given several sold outs in the exfila season. The following will arrive at Rifredi’s SMS Bee Bee Sea, a garage punk band from Mantua. After them the surprise arrives directly from overseas with the Californian producer, DJ and musician Al Lover, exceptionally in Florence for a live set. At the end, the Froceria DJ set in collaboration with Azione Gay e Lesbica with Leblond on the console.
The closing night, Sunday 7th Julywill instead be the fruit of the collaboration with La Chute cultural association, which will bring to the stage of the Stella Rossa fest Bernard Butler, guitarist and founder of the cult band of brit pop Suede and today on a European tour with his new solo project. The finale is entrusted to Novaradio who will close the Festival with his music.
All evenings will open (from 6.30pm) with a moment of discussion on many of the themes dear to the world of Arci. On Wednesday we will talk about anti-fascism in the talk “On the same side you will find me” in collaboration with ANPI Florence for the 80th anniversary of the Liberation of Florence. Valentina Mira’s novel will be presented with the participation of Rossella Scarponi and Vania Bagni (President of ANPI Florence). Moderator: Daniele Bianchini (Novaradio).
On Thursday the talk will instead be dedicated to the figure of Gabriel Garcia Marquez with “Ten Years of Solitude: for Gabriel Garcia Marquez”, in collaboration with the Latin American Studies Center dedicated to the South American writer who won the Nobel Prize for Literature 10 years after his death. Participants will include Martha Canfield (poet, translator, Hispanist) and Simone Bruno (journalist, correspondent in Latin America for France24 and Al Jazeera). Moderators will be Andrea Parlanti (Casa del Popolo di San Niccolò) and Giulia Spagnesi (Latin America Studies Center).
On Friday the meeting will instead be “Palestine with other eyes”, a talk dedicated to the Israeli-Palestinian issue with Alba Nabulsi (Italian-Palestinian journalist, founder of the Zaituna Collective), Micaela Frulli (professor of International Law at the University of Florence) and Ali Rashid (Palestinian politician, journalist and activist). Moderated by Riccardo Pinzauti (Novaradio).
On Saturday there will be more than one talk, and it will start at 5pm with “Self-production, another way between experimentation and freedom of expression” in the BliffFest space, moderated by Mauro Di Stefano with guests Barbara Giorgi and Diletta Giotti of the Diamond Dogs collective, Thomas Govoni of the Renape collective. At 6.30 pm there will be the presentation of the book “Doing feminism” by and with Giulia Siviero, who will dialogue with Martina Agnoletti (Novaradio).
Following, from 8:00 pm, “The Game for Social Change” again curated by Bliff, a meeting and debate with Arcigaymerz (lgbtqia+ gaming group of Arcigay Florence), Pink (transfeminist board game), Gix (Interdepartmental Research Center Games for Social Change). Moderator: GO! Game and Opportunity.
Finally on Sunday a double appointment coordinated by BliffFest, at 5pm with “Mutants, superheroes and other creatures”. With Stefano Zattera (cartoonist and illustrator) and Andrea Mozzato (Officina Infernale). At 6.30pm, “Illustrated Militancy. Activism and Politics between Comics, Posters and Graphic Arts”. With Elena Mistrello (author of Tracciato Palestina), Marco Petrucci (Testi Manifesti) and Giulia Pavani (Morsi Editore). Moderator: Davide Morena (Bliff!).
“BLIFFest”, the special “independent comics festival”, has also been confirmed for its third year within Stella Rossa organized by BLIFF! (the Illustrated Book and Comics Library of Florence). In the renovated talk area, this year there will be self-managed banquets, presentations and many workshops for the little ones which will liven up the five days of the festival.
One of the great novelties of this year’s Stella Rossa Fest will be the offer dedicated to children and families. In fact, every day, from 4pm onwards, the afternoon will open with one snack offered and a series of workshop opportunities for boys and girls of all ages. Workshop with the BLIFF! cartoonists to create and draw a short comic story (8-12 years), a radio workshop to tell the story of the Arci festival (11-14 years) by Novaradio, a chess workshop for children and teenagers by ASD Firenze 64 and DLF Firenze Scacchi (7-18 years) as well as a childhood space by the Madreterra Association (1-3 years).
This year too, during the 5 days of the festival, the space will be active A CASA DEL POPOLO, the Sagra dei Circoli Arci: the restaurant run by volunteers from the Circoli Arci of Florence and the province. Every evening of the Stella Rossa Fest it will be possible to stop and eat, at popular prices, with the traditional menus of the area, preserved and handed down over the decades by the culinary brigades of the Florentine Arci Clubs. The restaurant space will be open every evening and reservations are not required.The Clubs that will be involved in the kitchen this year and will alternate every evening will be the Circolo Arci of Cercina, SMS Peretola and the Cucinorum Food and Wine Association, the Circolo Arci Rinascita of Campi Bisenzio, the Circolo Arci Bruno Baldini of Barberino di Mugello and the Casa del Popolo of Impruneta.
The space of the artisan market of local productions.
Since its first edition, Stella Rossa Fest has been a festival Plastic free trying to be increasingly zero environmental impact through the adoption of many reuse and recycling practices. A further step in this direction will also be taken in this edition through various initiatives, such as that of use for the Sagra dei Circoli, plates and cutlery found from the second-hand sector thanks to Mani Tese, integrating them with those of the project “Crockery in the Circle”, the service for the creation of plastic free events created by Arci Firenze in agreement with the Municipality of Florence and in collaboration with Robin Coop Delivery Soc. Coop. In addition to this, all the glasses of the festival will be washable and reusable, the placemats of the Sagra dei Circoli are produced in recycled paper, drinking water will be available for free to everyone thanks to the Publiacqua fountain set up in the concert area and separate waste collection will be guaranteed thanks to the collection points set up with organic material bins from Ekoé – Plastic Free Solutions.
