The Oh Bej! Oh Bej! Christmas market is the most traditional and popular event of the Sant’Ambrogio week in Milano, the celebration for the patron Saint of the city. 

For over five centuries this annual Milanese pre-Christmas celebration, with sweet treats, surprises and all kinds of artefacts, has been held around December 7th, the date of the feast of the saint.

The 2024 edition will be held from December 5th  to 8th, enlivening the areas surrounding the Castello Sforzesco and the Parco Sempione. These four days of celebration are a must for all Milanese and visitors in search of the perfect gift or simply wanting to soak up the wonderful Christmas atmosphere. 

A variety of colourful stalls sell local crafts, traditional sweets, toys, flowers, books and prints, honey and many more tempting treats. There is no shortage of artisan-made wrought iron, copper and brassware, alongside sellers of ‘Firunatt’ or ‘Firòn’, traditional strings of smoked chestnuts that form long ‘necklaces’.

Strolling around the avenues of the fair, sipping a hot drink and savouring traditional sweet treats such as Panettone - which is being baked in all the city's pastry shops in this period - is an experience that captures the very essence of Milano as loved by the Milanese themselves.

Do you know the origin of the name "Oh Bej! Oh Bej!"? Find out below.