The old woman of the new year
Soon it will be the turn of the little old woman on the broom, the Befana, the lady who marks the end of all the holidays and welcomes the new year.
Here we see some suggestions, leaving out large centers such as Rome - where the Epiphany tradition is deeply felt - and Milan - where the Three Wise Men arrive to bring the gifts - on how to spend the last day of celebration to round off the Christmas holidays and start again full of energy.
In Treviso for the Panevin festival
A ritual involving fire and earth, in Treviso city and throughout the province, between 5 and 6 January the ancient Panevin Festival is celebrated. These are huge bonfires, the "panevin" which literally means bread and wine, a mound composed of dry branches, brushwood, wood and everything else that you want to pierce, about 10 meters high, with a diameter of four meters on the ground .
On the top of Panevin the "vecia", the Befana, often appears, which burns to exorcise the ailments and misfortunes of the old year and welcome and propitiate the new one.
The elders look at the direction of the sparks to make wishes for the year that has just begun. The Panevìn di Arcade is one of the most famous in the Treviso area, but there really is a complete map of it scattered throughout the area; tradition has it that they are accompanied by songs, mulled wine and the " pinza ", the traditional Befana cake, made of polenta and dried fruit.
History of the Befana-Mother Nature
In Urbania for the national celebration of the Epiphany
The celebration of the old woman is celebrated in a big way already from 2 January 2015 in that of Urbania, in the Marche, with a real National Festival dedicated to Befana.
Tourists and the curious will come from all over Italy to see and get to know the grandmother who takes away all the festivals, visit her house and watch the flying descent from the bell tower : a flight of 36 meters from the top of the Bell Tower, between fires of artifice and plays of light.
To enrich the program there will be a rich program of cultural and gastronomic appointments, traditional music and dances and craft workshops for children.
Do not miss the parades of the Befane of the four districts and the Befane of Fermignano by bicycle. Finally, on Epiphany day, the Befane of the four city districts will compete with each other in the traditional "Palio della Befana".
In Fornovo, the national gathering of the Befane and Befani
A very unique party in the province of Parma: the town of Fornovo Taro is filled with old women and vecchini dressed in rags and with the broom in hand for the fifth National Befana and Befani Gathering and winning the first prize of the dedicated national competition. On 5 and 6 January the streets of Fornovo will also be filled with markets, various shows, parades and flag-wavers. You will not even miss the election of Miss Befana 2015!
In Verona the largest bonfire
In Verona, but also throughout the province, on the day of the Epiphany we all meet in " brusar la vecia ". A ritual that welcomes the new year and greets the old one. The Befana burns, while the onlookers drink mulled wine and sing, calling the good wind to scatter the new seeds that the old woman carries in the sack and propitiate the crops.
In Piazza Brà in Verona there is the traditional Rogo della Vecia, a puppet of about ten meters is burned to avert ancient beliefs about bad luck and the evil eye. Other countries involved are Angiari, in Località Boscarola; Bardolino, at the Lido of Cisano; Bovolone, in Castelnuovo del Garda; and again Garda, Pastrengo and the unique setting of Valeggio sul Mincio .
In the Salento, the Befana comes from the sea
In Aradeo instead, a little further south, a town a few kilometers from the marinas of Nardò, every year on January 5 the traditional Fòcara della Befana takes place. For this event Aradeo lights up everywhere: practically at every intersection of the town, fòcare is installed, a term that indicates bonfires. There are also stalls, dances and traditional music, with concerts scattered around the country.