Calabria, the southern tip of Italy’s mainland, is home to Christmas traditions that are as lively as they are deeply rooted in faith and community. Over the years, some of these customs have faded, yet they remain a powerful reflection of the region’s unique cultural identity and the shared joy that once defined the holiday season. 

One of the most evocative Calabrian Christmas traditions is the lighting of large bonfires, known as fòcare or fuochi della Vigilia, in front of the town’s main church on Christmas Eve. These fires, which burn from dusk until dawn, symbolize purification and the triumph of light over darkness, the same triumph represented, in the eyes of the faithful, by the coming of Christ, born to save Humanity from Evil.