Culture and entertainment

The Maremma offers many cultural events, shows, exhibitions, daytime and nightime entertainment.

The following are just a few of the things you can do and see in the area, chiefly on summer evenings:

• Scarlino in festa, the  "carriere del diciannove": on the 19th of August the small medieval town of Scarlino evocates its history with a manifestation dating back to 1855; from 9 in the morning till late at night many different events involve the ‘contradaioli’ (inhabitants of the 3 different quarters, Rocca, Centre and San Donato). All the streets and even the most remote corners are decorated, tasting stalls set up and in the afternoon an ancient-bow, archery competition, followed by the historical relay-race, run along Scarlino’s winding alleyways.
• The Teatro delle Rocce at Gavorrano (the Theatre in the Rocks): in the nearby township of Gavorrano an area, once a lime quarry, has been reclaimed, with great respect for the natural environment, and an open-air theatre set up for shows, concerts and events. Every summer, from July to September the Festival delle Rocce (the Festival of the Rocks) takes place.
• The denomination "Maremma dei festival" (Maremma of the Festivals) includes other manifestations offered every summer: Lirica in piazza (Opera in the square) at Massa Marittima (in August) and the Grey cat jazz Festival now with over 30 editions, which takes place between Follonica, Grosseto, Porto Santo Stefano, Castiglione della Pescaia, Massa Marittima, Grosseto and the Castello di Scarlino.

During daytime, instead, for whoever may be looking for cultural alternatives to mare and tosport d'acqua, we suggest a visit to:

• Giardino dei Tarocchi: not far from Capalbio, in Garavicchio is an artistic park inspired by Gaudì’s Park Guell and the monsters of Bomarzo. The French-USAmerican artist Niki De Saint Phalle has decorated the park with colourful and unbelievable sculptures of tarots collocated in the middle of nature.

• The giardino dei suoni (Garden of Sounds) by Paul Fuchs: in the village of Montieri, locality Boccheggiano, 20 scultures in iron and other materials produce incredible sound waves.