In the very name “Calendimaggio” – “Singing in May” – a seasonal celebration welcoming the arrival of spring, there was something both gentle and joyful. Calendimaggio was indeed a festival: a celebration of beauty and flowers, but also of lovers.

The Calends of May were eagerly awaited “by amorous maidens and fervent lovers” with an anticipation as intense as the affection and attraction that bound them together.

Boccaccio, in his “Life of Dante”, introduces it like this:

“In the time when the sweetness of the sky clothes the earth with its adornments, and through the variety of flowers mingled among the green leaves makes it laugh with joy, it was the custom of our Florence for men and women alike, in their neighborhoods and in distinct groups, to celebrate…”

Florence, in those days, was simple in its customs, joyful in its simplicity, and full of delicate poetry during its public festivities. In May, through the streets one could hear nothing but “joyful songs of love,” and everywhere one could see groups of young women and maidens crowned with roses and iris flowers (the Florentine iris, pale ice-blue in color).

The music of lutes and mandolins accompanied dances everywhere; at the tables set along the streets, everyone was invited and there was a spirit of merriment.

Starting from May 1st, groups of young people would roam the city singing Calendimaggio songs or other love songs, in a lively and carefree atmosphere that culminated in the maggiolate – from which the prestigious “Maggio Musicale Fiorentino,” one of the world’s most renowned artistic festivals, takes its origins.

Lovers would go and attach a maio to the door of their beloved—a blossoming tree branch adorned with ornaments and ribbons, or sometimes doughnuts, oranges, sugared almonds, and other sweet gifts. The young girl, receiving this homage, would appear at her window, blushing and listening, confused with joy and her heart beating with love to the happy song, while picking some flowers from “may” as a sign of her favor.

The girls were all dressed in red (as Beatrice appeared to Dante when he first saw her during the Calendimaggio of 1274), all crowned with flowers of every kind, and with blossoming broom branches and fronds. To the sound of trumpets and pipes, they held hands, singing and dancing in a circle in the traditional rigoletto—a collective round dance—among the happy crowd.

Amidst dances and popular songs, the “Queen of May” was elected; crowned with a wreath of flowers, she would visit engaged maidens, singing verses of good fortune and handing out small gifts.

In the afternoon, everyone would head out into the countryside, enjoying picnics while singing and dancing along the banks of the Arno, gathering daisies –