La Befana: Celebrating the Feast of the Epiphany in Italy

In Italy, good children receive gifts not only on Christmas, but also on January 6^th, in celebration of the Epiphany. Usually candies and small toys, these are whimsically said to be brought by La Befana, a kindly witch riding a broomstick.  For naughty children she leaves just a lump of coal.

You may ask, what is the connection between a witch and the Three Wise Men?  According to legend, the Magi asked La Befana for directions to Bethlehem in order to find the Christ Child to bring him their gifts of gold, myrrh and frankincense.  Being a cranky old lady, she refused to help. But soon after they left, she regretted her harshness and set off to find the infant herself, bringing with her an assortment of sweets she had been baking.  

Sadly, La Befana couldn’t find the baby, but being the sort who never gives up, still to this day she flies around at Christmastime looking through windows and down chimneys leaving gifts for all children, just in case one of them happens to be that special infant. 

La Befana: History

The Roman Catholic church began celebrating the Epiphany on January 6^th in the 4^th century AD. 

The origin of the witch-like character of Befana may be linked to ancient pagan beliefs in a Mother Nature goddess symbolizing rebirth.  After the winter solstice, the death and rebirth of nature were celebrated, and it was believed that a goddess flew over the fields, ensuring fertility for the next season.  Despite possible ancient roots, La Befana only became popular in Italy in the early 1900s.

La Befana: Celebrations throughout Italy 

In Italy, the Epiphany, January 6^th, is a national holiday, with banks, offices, and most stores closed.  Festivities take place all around the country.  On January 5, the eve of the Epiphany, many cities, especially in the northeast, celebrate with a bonfire in the town square, called falò del vecchione.  They might burn a pile of wood, but more often a large straw figure called il vecchio, the old one, is burned a sort of out-with-the-old, in-with-the-new ritual.

Florence and other cities host elaborate parades led by elegantly costumed men on horseback representing Three Magi. A live nativity, presepi viventi, with real people dressed as the Christ Child, Mary, Joseph that includes actual farm animals is set up in Piazza Duomo. This Florentine tradition dates back to the 1400s and then, even members of the Medici family took part in the procession. 

One particularly popular celebration is the National Befana Festival that occurs each year in the Marche city of Urbania, thought to be the official home of La Befana, where upwards of 50,000 attendees watch parades and fireworks and witness La Befana “fly” down the town’s main bell tower.

Venice hosts a yearly Regata delle Befane, regatta of the witches, on the Grand Canal. Participants from retired gondoliers to rowing club members, all dressed as la Befana, race their gondolas to the Rialto Bridge, where a huge stocking is hung. The race festivities include live music and volunteers who hand out hot chocolate, spiced wine and cake to the spectators.

La Befana Desserts 

Focaccia della Befana also known as Fugassa d’la Befana, is a typical dessert of Piedmont, especially the Cuneo province.  It is a round candied fruit brioche made of many sections, like a big daisy.  It is eaten on January 6^th, and, like the King Cakes of France, which contain a ceramic figurine of a king or a coin, fugassa has two beans hidden within. According to tradition, the person who gets the white bean pays for the fugassa and the person who gets the black bean pays for the wine. 

Biscotti Befanini, Befana cookies, a popular treat in Tuscany, are brightly colored shortbread cookies flavored with citrus zest and rum.  They come in various holiday shapes: la Befana herself, her sock, hat, broom or a star. 

Carbone della Befana. Along with the treats in her sack, Befana packs coal for the naughty children. Nowadays, many Italian parents give their children--whether naughty or not--candy coal, homemade or store-bought.

Pinza, cornmeal yeast cake bursting with apples, candied orange peel, grappa, dried fruit and nuts, is one of the oldest and most-beloved sweets of the Veneto region. Pinza is always served for the Feast of the Epiphany on January 6^th. In the past, Venetian peasants placed the dough wrapped in cabbage leaves under the glowing embers of the bonfires they had prepared for the Epiphany and the New Year. In small towns, friends and families will visit one another on that day, tasting each other’s pinza and voting on the year’s best.  It’s believed that eating a slice of this cake brings good luck, which has sparked several traditions that last to this day. People sometimes wrap a slice in a white linen napkin and save it for months, holding onto their luck.  One legend even promises that if a woman wants to find a husband, she has only to eat seven slices of pinza in seven different homes she visits on January 6^th.  If she does, she’s certain to be married within a year!