For those who celebrate Christmas, so much of the season builds up to the main event: Dec. 25. Christmas Eve is often an after-thought, a time to put gifts under the tree or scramble for last-minute presents and sparse parking spots at stores. But some find the idea of glossing over Christmas Eve a bit, well, fishy.

Some families, particularly Italian Americans, consider Dec. 24 a main course of the holiday season. Each year, families gather around the table for the Feast of the Seven Fishes. “You eat every type of Crustacean possible,” said Will Horowitz of Anker in Greenport, which will host a Feast of the Seven Fishes on Christmas Eve. Typically, the multi-course meal will include seven types of fish.