Piazza Navona Holiday Fair

The Piazza Navona Christmas market is a fun place to stop if you’re in Rome for the holiday season.  It usually runs from early December until January 6th.

BUT if you’re expecting to find handicrafts and luxury items, think again. This fair is (not-so-) secretly for kids.  What you WILL find is cotton candy, cheap toys, and carnival games.

Also, lots of Christmas witches.

I have been absolutely fascinated by the Epiphany on January 6th.  It’s a public holiday in Italy, and appeared to be religious, but there were witches everywhere! (You can read my old post here).  Hope you remembered to leave your stockings out so she had a place to put your candies this morning.

Anyways, Befana. That’s what the market is about.  Kids go with their families and play games, see La Befana in the flesh on 6 January (usually men dressed like witches), and pick out a new ornament for the tree.  Here’s ours:


Because the Piazza Navona Christmas fair is mainly for children, there’s a huge carousel in the middle of the square.

Technically no longer a child, I was talked into taking it for a spin.

Afterwards, because we are serious grown ups, we wandered down to a food stall for a very adult 1 Euro serving of wine in a very classy plastic cup.

Did I mention this is mainly a children’s attraction and they sell cheap booze?? You win again, Italy. You win again.

Happy Holidays!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.