BurattinInborgo

BurattinInborgo: Puppets return to Certaldo Alto

Every summer, the medieval village of Certaldo Alto, in the heart of the Florentine Valdelsa, transforms into an open-air stage for BurattinInborgo, a puppet theatre festival that fills its red-brick walls with marionettes, hand puppets, and visual storytelling. The small squares, gardens, and most evocative corners of the town that gave birth to Giovanni Boccaccio host professional companies from across Italy, with a calendar of free events designed especially for families and children.

A festival dedicated to the tradition of puppet theatre

The event is curated by artistic director Italo Pecoretti, animator of Il Teatro delle Dodici Lune, and is organized by the Pro Loco of Certaldo in collaboration with the Polis Associations and under the patronage of the Municipality of Certaldo. The heart of the performances is the Giardino di Palazzo Giannozzi, where shows usually take place at 6:30 PM in an intimate and familiar atmosphere. Pulcinella, Fagiolino, Sandrone, and other characters from Italian folk tradition come back to life thanks to the ancient art of puppeteers, guardians of a comic repertoire passed down through generations.

The 2026 edition: The Collodi bicentenary

The seventh edition holds special significance: 2026 marks the bicentenary of the birth of Carlo Lorenzini, known as Collodi, the Florentine who gave the world the most famous puppet of all time with The Adventures of Pinocchio. For the occasion, the festival opens with a grand parade dedicated to Pinocchio that winds through the village, accompanied by the music of the Polis School of Music, along with workshops for children to build puppets out of papier-mâché and wood. The events continue throughout the summer until September, with a different company for each date.

Certaldo Alto: A village to discover

Attending BurattinInborgo is also the perfect opportunity to visit one of the most beautiful villages in Tuscany: Certaldo Alto, in the Province of Florence, can be reached from the modern town center via a characteristic funicular and preserves its medieval charm intact, including the Palazzo Pretorio, Boccaccio's House, and the terracotta walls. The puppet festival precedes Mercantia—the famous international street theatre festival held in the same village—by a few weeks, making the Certaldo summer an unmissable appointment for performing arts lovers.