A long-standing Roman tradition in the run-up to the Epiphany has been the fair in the Piazza Navona dedicated to “La Befana” – a curious present-giving witch who, in Italian folklore, appears on the Epiphany (and is mercifully free from reindeer and bright red Coca-Cola rebranding). Opening in early December, this fair caters mostly for stalls selling everything you could conceivably need for a Nativity display, from little figures of the Baby Jesus and drunken innkeepers to a grinning, waving Will and Kate. A few years ago, I was able to find a miniature King Herod, who hosts a rival court until the Wise Men are moved into the stable at the Epiphany. This year, however, the new Mayor of Rome decided that the fair was too “commercialised”, and the whole natu