If you go to Florence, check on internet if there are some festivals or religious festivities: it can be really interesting to see this kind of things. One of the most curious one, for example, is the so-called “Scoppio del Carro”.
The “Scoppio del Carro”, or the “explosion of the cart” in English, is a ceremony which takes place in Florence mixing pagan and religious elements. It marks both Easter and spring, and all the good things of the years, such as the successful ignition of the cart guarantees good crops and a wonderful stable civic life and bountiful trade. It also represents the passage of the new holy fire which lights the Good Friday.