The Oh Bej Fair Oh Bej!

The Oh Bej! Oh Bej! Fair is the most traditional and popular of the St. Ambrose Week events in Milan. This event, which for five centuries has anticipated Milan's Christmas with sweets, surprises and curiosities, takes place every year around December 7, the feast day of the city's patron saint.

The 2025 edition is held Dec. 5-8, enlivening the areas surrounding the Castello Sforzesco and Sempione Park. These four days of festivities are a must for Milanese and tourists looking for the perfect gift or simply eager to soak in the Christmas atmosphere.

Stalls selling local crafts, traditional sweets, toys, flowers, books and prints, honey and the like can be found. There is no shortage of wrought iron, copper and brass masters, as well as vendors selling roasted chestnuts and "Firunatt" or "Firòn," the traditional smoked chestnuts strung to form long "necklaces."

Strolling along the fair's avenues, sipping a hot drink and savoring traditional sweets such as panettone-which is being baked in all the city's pastry shops these very days-is an experience that captures the very essence of Milan as the Milanese love it.