The New Generation Festival is an annual celebration that takes place in Florence’s Corsini Gardens, creating an international platform for the finest young musical talent.

This year, in response to the devastating effects of Covid-19 on the Italian and international cultural scene, The New Generation Festival will be relocating to the city’s historic Boboli Gardens and Pitti Palace to create The ReGeneration Festival #ReGen, co-presented with the world-renowned Uffizi Galleries and produced in association with the City of Florence.

Running from 26 to 29 August 2020, ReGen is a festival of youth and hope given by hundreds of rising artists engaged by The New Generation Festival in Florence. Stirred by Dostoevsky’s words that “beauty will save the world”, ReGen is an unprecedented four-day programme of concerts and productions, offered to audiences entirely for free; a festival staged by the young talent of the world for the city of Florence. It is fitting that the city of the Renaissance should now set the stage for another to be reborn.

26 August (Opening Night)

• La Cenerentola
• Composed by Gioachino Rossini
• Conducted by Sándor Károlyi Directed by Jean-Romain Vesperini
• Featuring: Svetlina Stoyanova, Josh Lovell, Gurgen Baveyan, Daniel Mirosław, Blaise Malaba, Marvic Monreal, Giorgia Paci
• Orchestra: The Orchestra Senzaspine of Bologna
• Orchestra: The Orchestra Senzaspine of Bologna
• 8:30 PM – 11:20 PM (including 30-minute interval)

27 August (Symphony Night)

• Le nozze di Figaro Overture by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Cello Concerto No. 1 in C major, Hob. VIIb/1 by Joseph Haydn
• Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92 by Ludwig van Beethoven
• Conducted by Daniele Rustioni
• Cello Soloist: Erica Piccotti
• Orchestra: The Italian Youth Orchestra
• 8:30 PM – 9:40 PM (no interval)
• Late Night Concert: Natural Machines by Dan Tepfer
• 10:10 PM – 11 PM (no interval)

28 August (Jazz Night)

• The Three Divas
• Starring Shenel Johns, Veronica Swift and Anush Hovhannisyan Accompanied by Yasushi Nakamura, Sam Jewison and Dominick
• Farinacci Co-produced with Piers Playfair, founder of the Catskill Jazz Factory
• 8:30 PM – 9:45 PM (no interval)
• Late Night Concert: DEVOTION a new act performed by British drag queens Crystal Rasmussen, Shirley Du Naughty and Aphrodite
• Greene, née Jones
• 10:15 PM – 11:15 PM (no interval)
• Late-night programme given by DJ John Swing (Francesco Giannini) at the Manifattura Tabacchi.

29 August (Festival Finale)

• 29 AUGUST FESTIVAL FINALE
• La Cenerentola
• Composed by Gioachino Rossini
• Conducted by Sándor Károlyi Directed by Jean-Romain Vesperini
• Featuring: Svetlina Stoyanova, Josh Lovell, Gurgen Baveyan, Daniel Mirosław, Blaise Malaba, Marvic Monreal, Giorgia Paci
• Orchestra: The Orchestra Senzaspine of Bologna
• 8:30 PM – 11:20 PM (including 30-minute interval)
• Late-night programme given by DJ John Swing (Francesco Giannini) at the Manifattura Tabacchi.

Entry to the Boboli Gardens will be granted at the main entrance to the Pitti Palace and will be open to audiences from 6:50 PM each evening for temperature scanning and ticket checks. Entry will not be permitted after 9 PM.

The food and drinks bar in the courtyard of the Pitti Palace will be open from 7 PM. After the evening’s performances have ended, audiences will be ushered to exit the gardens through the Porta Romana access point.

The New Generation Festival will stage a unique celebration of creativity that conforms to the requirements of social distancing and follows rigorous health and safety protocols:

• At all times, audience members will be required to wear a face mask of their choice – flamboyant designs and colourful fabrics are all welcome.
• Guests will be asked to maintain a 2 metre (6-foot) distance from those outside their household.
• Guests will also be advised to refrain from touching any surfaces or their faces unless they have washed their hands or used an alcohol-based hand sanitiser and disinfected washing facilities will be accessible on-site.
• Those displaying symptoms or with a high temperature will be refused entry.
• Socially-distanced fashion strongly encouraged. Please contact the NGF team for ideas.

The free ticketing system for The ReGeneration Festival will go live on the website of The New Generation Festival on 17 August.

To find out more about The New Generation Festival, visit here.