For many people that morning it was happy occasion – the piazza full of children obviously enjoying themselves as the “Christmas Spirit” starts up in earnest, the teachers looking forward to their well earned rest and the children get ready for the Christmas holidays but watching it from a distance something has definitely changed and it will be very difficult to return to how it was.
Now we can discuss whether or not going back is a bad idea, that nostalgia is not exactly a negative emotion or that life actually means change but really all I really want to do is just to point out that change is happening and happening very fast.
It may seem slightly Scrooge like to scorn what was obviously a colourful and cheerful event but it is precisely the colour that was predominantly throughout the piazza that is shouting out that change is taking place.
The predominant colour this morning was red, Christmas red and above all, Santa red.
The cult of Father Christmas has arrived in full force in this area.
It’s often said that Santa’s red and white robes were the creation of a Coca-Cola advertising campaign.
He’s got his own style and he sticks to it. Father Christmas is the universally recognised symbol of the festive season in his traditional robes.
But the red suit and hat with the white fur trim have given rise to the belief among some that Santa’s togs were dreamed up by canny ad men who recast him in the soft drink maker’s corporate colours.
But while there’s some truth in the suggestion – Coke ran a campaign for 30 years featuring a jolly fat Santa – his colour scheme owes more to ecclesiastical vestments than a brainstorm on Madison Avenue.
The colours are widely thought to derive from the original Saint Nicholas, who was the Bishop of Myra in the 4th Century. Red and white were the hues of traditional bishop robes, although some historians argue that he originally dressed in different colours.
It has to be remembered that this area is the where the Befana has ruled the roost until very recently.
In Italian folklore, Befana is an old woman who delivers gifts to children throughout Italy on Epiphany Eve (the night of January 5) in a similar way to St Nicholas or Santa Claus.
A popular belief is that her name derives from the Feast of Epiphany or in Italian La Festa dell’Epifania. Epiphania (Epiphany in English) is a Latin word with Greek origins. “Epiphany” means either the “Feast of the Epiphany” (January 6) or “manifestation (of the divinity).”Some suggest that Befana is descended from the Sabine/Roman goddess named Strina.
In popular folklore Befana visits all the children of Italy on the eve of the Feast of the Epiphany to fill their stockings with sweets and presents if they are good or a lump of coal or dark sweet if they are bad. The child’s family typically leaves a small glass of wine and a plate with a few morsels of food, often regional or local, for the Befana.
She is usually portrayed as an old lady riding a broomstick through the air wearing a black shawl and is covered in soot because she enters the children’s houses through the chimney. She is often smiling and carries a bag or hamper filled with candy, gifts, or both