RED GARTER 60TH ANNIVERSARY

A new, great milestone for the historic Florentine venue, Florence’s longest-running nightclub. Opened on May 23rd, 1962 by American Jack Correa, Red Garter turns 60 years old. Once Extraordinary Events coordinated – on this big day of celebration – the editing and publishing activities related to the magazine “La Libertà della Notte” (Freedom of the Night), published as a limited edition, and the overall coordination of the spectacular celebratory dinner.

Historical Background
The venue on Via De’ Benci has been an iconic venue, uniting Florentines and Americans, and was born to host banjo-playing bands, and has maintained the original entertainment guidelines over time, as well as those of dining in the historic center of a city as unique as Florence. Such an important venue that has hosted thousands of prominent people in the social sphere such as: Leonardo Pieraccioni, Alessandro Paci, Roberto Benigni, Carlo Conti, Piero Pelù, Martina Stella, Marco Masini, Kate wife of Prince William, or even Pau dei Negrita, Oliviero Toscani, Tony Sidney, Edy Davis.

Currently the reins of the restaurant are in the hands of Riccardo Tarantoli who has managed it since 2005 and since 2017 has also expanded the brand by opening a Red Garter restaurant in Barcelona, Spain. Riccardo, who already in 2012, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary, published a first volume preserving the memories of such an important meeting place for the city of Florence, now comes to his second publication on the occasion of this important celebration. The publication, which celebrates 60 years of activity and retraces the most representative dates of the venue that live in the images of the New Press Photo archive, was presented to the press at a meeting also attended by Councillor Federico Gianassi.

THE CELEBRATIONS
To celebrate the 16th anniversary of the opening of this very important venue, Riccardo decided to organize a dinner accompanied by music and entertainment which took place inside the venue. Among the guests, in addition to the closest of friends, were city authorities and companions of many adventures. On this occasion there was no shortage of typical American steak house specialties. To further celebrate the occasion, a contest was launched on the main social networks linked to sharing anecdotes, photographs or memories of people who frequented Red Garter. The first prize up for grabs: a trip for two people to Barcelona and gadgets from the venue!

The Red Garter venue is rooted in culture. It’s first owner, John Francis Correa, decided to open this location in Santa Croce, with a very specific style that was completely different from anything that Florence knew at the time. Although, over time, numerous changes, expansions and modernizations have been made to the interior of the venue, there is still an American atmosphere typical of the late nineteenth-century saloons in which American banjo bands performed.