Our Christmas traditions

In Taranto, Christmas time begins, officially, the 22th of November the Saint's Cicily day. Early in the morning a band walks through the streets, playing Christmas songs: The Pastoral, Adeste Fideles, Jingle bells, and so on. Mothers wake up at 5 o' clock and make "pettole": sweet doughnuts made with flour, water and yeast. They place flour in a large bowl, make a well in the center, add salt, yeast and as much warm water as it takes to make a smooth and elastic dough. They cover the bowl and place it in a warm place until it doubles up in amount. In a frying pan, they heat some oil and using two metal spoons, shape scoops of dough into balls, and drop them carefully into the hot oil, taking care to turn over the little doughnuts. Then they place each pettola onto a plate and serve with a little mound of sugar. When children wake up, find the warm "pettole" and have them for breakfast, happy that Christmas time, with its magic atmosphere, is beginning. The same day, or some days later, people start decorating our houses. First of all everyone makes a Christmas tree with lights, coloured balls and whatever they want. People also make the crib. This is another important tradition. Presepi are usually set up starting December 8, the Feast Day of the Immaculate Conception, through January 6, Epiphany but some are unveiled on Christmas Eve. Many people set up a Christmas crib in their house and figurines for nativity scenes are made in many parts of Italy, with some of the best coming from Naples and Sicily. Although the presepe is usually set up before Christmas, baby Jesus is added on Christmas Eve. The Nativity scene is said to have originated with St. Francis of Assisi in 1223: Saint Francis in Italy constructed a nativity scene in a cave in the town of Greccio and held Christmas Eve mass and a nativity pageant there. Greccio reenacts this event each year. People love to create it with paper, glue, which sometimes is made with flour and water cooked, leaves and stones gathered in the streets. The figurines of the crib are very important: there are the sheepherds with his sheep, angels, men and women with traditional clothes, and of course the nativity. In some crib you can find the rapresentation of traditional jobs: the carpenter, the blacksmith, the farmer etc. The streets too, are decorated with lights and trees. People met in the evening to play traditional games: bingo, cards. There are cakes like "panettone" and "pandoro". The former one is made with flour, yeast, eggs, sugar, candied fruit and raisins, the latter is quite similar without candied fruits and raisins. Children prefer "pandoro". At Christmas meal, people eat a lot, of course! The family have a big Christmas Eve's dinner based on fishfood such as spaghetti with cockels and mussels, gilthered fish, large eel, gratin mussels and so on, pettole and sweets. At 11.30 p.m. people go to Christmas Holy mass. Christmas day is wonderful! Children wake up early in the morning to unwrap the presents left by Santa Claus! Christmas lunch is big and long, based on pasta, meat, vegetables, pettole, cakes, sweets.... In the afternoon, people play cards, bingo or go to the cinema. On Saint Stephen's day, the 26th of december people don't go to work. The traditional lunch is based on "tortellini" and meat soup. In the evening peolple try to rest, because the day after go back working. Another important date is "New Year's Day". New Year’s Day in Italy falls on January 1 and marks the start of the year in the Gregorian calendar. People celebrate the end of the old year and the start of New Year’s Day with fireworks. Many people celebrate a New Year’s dinner with dishes that include: ■Risotto in bianco (white risotto). ■Lentils (symbolizing wealth/good fortune). ■Cotechino (pork sausage boiled over low heat for hours before serving). ■Zampone (a type of sausage). ■Raisins (for good luck). Many organizations, businesses, and educational institutions are closed on New Year’s Day, including: ■Schools. ■Government offices. ■Post offices. ■Banks. Symbolic traditions in Italian history include: ■Throwing pots, pans, and clothes out of the window to let go of the past and move toward the future. ■Wearing red underwear for good luck. After midnight young people go to discoteque with their friends or meet in someone's house to play cards all the night. Early in the morning, people eat warm croissant and go sleeping. At midday they can watch in TV the traditional New Year's concert.It has long been a Philharmonic tradition at the New Year to present a program consisting of the lively and at the same time nostalgic music from the vast repertoire of the Johann Strauss family and its contemporaries. These concerts not only delight the audiences in the Musikverein in Vienna, but also enjoy great international popularity through the world wide television broadcast, which now reaches over 80 countries. This year Italy decides to broadcast the Concert played in Venice, at the theater "La Fenice". The traditional Christmas holiday season in Italy lasts through Epiphany. The Feast of the Epiphany, celebrated January 6 with a national holiday in Italy, and the tradition of La Befana. Epiphany commemorates the 12th day of Christmas when the three Wise Men arrived at the manger bearing gifts for Baby Jesus. Italy's traditional celebration includes the tale of a witch known as La Befana who arrives on her broomstick during the night of January 5 and fills the stockings with toys and sweets for the good children and lumps of coal for the bad ones. According to the legend, the night before the Wise Men arrived at the manger they stopped at the shack of an old woman to ask directions. They invited her to come along but she replied that she was too busy. Then a shepherd asked her to join him but again she refused. Later that night, she saw a great light in the sky and decided to join the Wise Men and the shepherd bearing gifts that had belonged to her child who had died. She got lost and never found the manger. Now La Befana flies around on her broomstick each year on the 11th night, bringing gifts to children in hopes that she might find the Baby Jesus. Children hang their stockings on the evening of January 5 awaiting the visit of La Befana.