What to do in Maremma this summer: the BotanicalDryGarden by Night events

Summer holidays are not just about the sea and relaxation, but also about cultural events, good food, and pleasant evenings spent in good company and in contact with nature. There is no need to book expensive trips or luxury spas. Sometimes, simply, one's own land has riches to offer that one cannot imagine, such as the events in Maremma in the summer of 2022 organized by Botanical Dry Garden.

It is called BotanicalDryGarden by Night and is a series of interactions dedicated to art and culture and hosted by the great botanical garden with low-water-use plants. Like all Botanical Dry Garden initiatives, the four evenings of July 2022 are organized in full respect of nature, with tastings of local and zero-kilometer wines and mainly vegetarian finger food, so as not to contribute to the worsening of the environmental impact.

The park, located in the heart of the Tuscan Maremma, hosts over 1,500 species and varieties of low-water-use plants that, watered only a few times a year, allow to contribute to the need for more greenery without damaging the already scarce water resources. It is the first dry botanical garden in Italy, and each of its initiatives is designed and organized in full respect of the environment.

The first evening will host a concert, while the next three will be dedicated to tastings of local wines and foods, and will host exceptional Special Guests, who will dedicate each appointment to music, theater, or the love of the beauties of nature.

Things to do in Maremma this summer: the Orbetello Piano Festival 2022

Born in 2012 with the noble goal of enhancing the territory of the Tuscan Maremma through cultural initiatives, this year the Orbetello Piano Festival will bring great piano music among the suggestive landscapes of Botanical Dry Garden. The architecture of the park is in fact designed to make use of the beauties of nature so as to offer a stage for any form of art and entertainment.

On Saturday, July 2, there will be Anna Serova, an incredible violinist on the international scene, and Giuliano Adorno, pianist and artistic director of the festival, who will inaugurate the preview concert and the presentation of the Orbetello Piano Festival 2022 lineup.

With the music of J. Brahms, A. Vitali, B. Bartòk and R. Molinelli, the Brahms & Dance concert will not only be an opportunity to listen to good music inside a suggestive place, but will also give the opportunity to dance in pleasant company under the stars of the Tuscan landscape.

Toninho Horta, Nicola Stilo Trio and Alfredo Paixao: nothing better than music and wine

Music never ends. The second BotanicalDryGarden by Night appointment will also be dedicated to the enchantment of music, this time under the sign of jazz, thanks to the participation of the most famous Special Guests on the music scene.

On Saturday, July 9, the series of evenings with tasting in collaboration with Azienda Agricola Renis, a prestigious producer of IGP Wine, extra virgin olive oil and whole wheat pasta, will be inaugurated. Starting from a farmhouse to be restored and fertile land to cultivate, for years Renis has offered products of excellent quality and, on the occasion of the Botanical Dry Garden evening, it will be possible to taste its excellent wine, while listening to the melodies that the exceptional guests of the evening will want to gift us.

Among the ten best guitarists in the world and winner of no less than one Latin Grammy Award, Toninho Horta and his bossanova jazz will be the protagonists of the evening. Together with him, directly from the Alexanderplatz Jazz Club, the Nicola Stilo Trio, the group of the flautist who has dedicated his career exclusively to jazz. To accompany the artists there will also be the extraordinary participation of Alfredo Paixao, the bassist and singer from Rio de Janeiro winner of numerous Grammys.

The music and tasting evening will be accompanied by finger food from the Botanical Dry Garden chef, who will offer a selection of typical products of the territory.

Theater and social commitment: “Le donne di Malamore” by Lucrezia Lante della Rovere

Taken from the eponymous book by Concita De Gregorio who investigates the reasons of gender violence, “Le donne di Malamore” is one of the most famous theatrical monologues by Lucrezia Lante della Rovere. With talent and delicacy, she tells the stories of ordinary women, victims of violence by fathers, husbands, or by strangers, touching the deepest chords of the souls of the spectators.

The suggestive interpretation of Saturday, July 16 directed by Francesco Zecca, will be enriched by the collaboration with the Cantina Santa Lucia. Their vineyards, which tell the Maremma, have a century-old history: the first vine was planted in 1886 and still survives today, after 5 generations. On Saturday, July 16, it will be possible to taste their wine offer, accompanied by local products selected by the Botanical Dry Garden kitchen.

Return to origins: “The Green Planet” by Stefano Mancuso

It is from his studies on plants that every lover of nature begins to know it. The work of Prof. Stefano Mancuso regarding the life of plants, their intelligence and the way of communicating is unparalleled, and every nature enthusiast knows it.

He will be the Special Guest of the evening of July 23, during which he will hold a conference entitled “The Green Planet: life, relationships and journeys of plants”, dedicated to all aspects of the plant world that we do not know.

The evening dedicated to nature will be in collaboration with Tenuta Monteverro, a winery born at the foot of the village of Capalbio, in the southern area of the Tuscan Maremma. The position of the vineyards, between the hilly area and the proximity to the sea, represents the perfect mix for the creation of wines that have nothing to envy to the French ones.

The tasting of Monteverro products and Prof. Mancuso's conference will be accompanied by a selection of local finger food prepared by the Botanical Dry Garden chef.

For more information and to book the Botanical Dry Garden by Night evenings, click here.