Hand-crafted Hats at the Fortezza Vecchia Christmas village, LivornoThe Fortezza Vecchia is hosting the Christmas Village again this year - a small but varied group of stalls displaying a range of crafts and food products, from hand-crafted hats, artistic ceramics and patchwork, to organic food, truffles and unusual cheeses.

The popular Livornese band, Indovena, are going to be making an appearance on the TV channel Rock TV (Sky channel 718) at 8pm on Wednesday, 21st November 2007. Indovena is a three-member band with Lorenzo Cominelli (vocals, bass and keyboards), Tommaso Simoni (guitar and vocals), and Giovanni Lombardi (drums). They have been together since 2003.

International Line-up includes The Verve, The Chemical Brothers, The Wombats, and Gnarls Barkely

Scene from the 2007 Italia Wave FestivalThis year's important Italia Wave Festival will take place here in Livorno from 16th to 19th July. In previous years this annual festival of music and culture has taken place in Arezzo and in Florence, but this year the city of Livorno has been chosen as the venue because of its lively summer seaside atmosphere.

Livorno football fans awoke to shock news this morning regarding the transfer of the much-loved local player Cristiano Lucarelli to a team in the Ukraine.

Famous for having turned down top player salaries in the past to stay with his home team, Lucarelli has finally succumbed to a 12 million euro 3-year contract with Shakhtar Donetsk.

Effetto Venezia 2007Once again this year Livorno’s old Venezia district will host the annual Effetto Venezia festival that, since it began twenty three years ago , has built up a reputation for the high standards of its events and organisation. The festival takes place over a period of ten days and this year it all begins on 1st August.

The Medieval Streets of SuveretoThe Sagra di Suvereto, otherwise known as the Sagra del Cinghiale or wild boar fete, is held every year in December in the medieval town of Suvereto which is about an hour's drive south of Livorno. This year is the 40th anniversary of the Sagra and many special events are being held to celebrate.

23 October 2007. A strike has been announced by CGIL, CISL and UIL public sector employees for the whole day on Friday 26th October. This will affect town hall offices (apart from birth and death announcements), Municipal Police (apart from emergency services), and nursery schools.

Glorious October skies12th October 2007. There I was just a couple of weeks ago announcing the end of the summer as the private beaches in Livorno closed down, making it sound as if we were about to slide suddenly into gloomy winter weather. It is true that the following week we had weather reminiscent of a British November,  but since then the situation has changed dramatically and conditions, I believe, are perfect! Alright, so the temperature has dropped and the early mornings and evenings are even rather chilly, but the weather we are getting during the day is absolutely glorious:  cloudless blue skies, warm sunshine with just a slight breeze, and a maximum temperature of a very comfortable 23-24°C. This is my kind of season, a time when I can rush about without dripping with sweat,  sit in the sunshine without gasping for shade, and feel smug about living on the Mediterranean in Livorno, while those in more northerly locations have already reached for their winter woollies.

The Port of LivornoApril 2008. The Port of Livorno has launched a series of events to enable the population of Livorno to visit areas usually off-limits and to get a better understanding of what goes on behind the scenes in the port which plays such an important role in the city of Livorno. It will also give people a chance to see all the new developments currently underway in the port.

On Thursday 18th October 2007 the Livorno branch of the World Wildlife Organisation (WWF) will be hosting an afternoon of information and debate regarding the state of the Cycle Path network in Livorno. Following an "on-site inspection" back in April this year, when members of the WWF and the local community pedalled around the city's cycle paths to inspect their viability and state of repair, this meeting aims to present the findings of this survey and to pose a number of issues regarding Livorno and its cyclists. Guest speakers include Massimiliano Petri from the University of Pisa, and Luciano Chirici from the Italian Association for City Cycling.