Last updated August 2026. Milan compresses three very different things into 7 December: the feast of Sant'Ambrogio, the city's patron; the Oh Bej! Oh Bej! fair, a street market running around the Castello Sforzesco since the sixteenth century; and the opening night of La Scala's opera season, the most socially loaded evening in the Italian cultural calendar. It is also a local public holiday, and it is the date Milan considers the real start of Christmas.
Why 7 December
Ambrose was made bishop of Milan on 7 December 374, and the date has anchored the city's calendar ever since. It is a fixed date, a local patron saint holiday — observed in Milan but not nationally — and it sits immediately before 8 December, the Immaculate Conception, which is a national holiday. That pairing is what gives Milan a reliable two-day bridge at the start of December, and it is why the city treats this as the opening of the Christmas season rather than a single feast day.
The practical effect: shops and businesses in Milan close on the 7th in a way they do not elsewhere in Italy, and then the country closes with them on the 8th. Trains and national services run on the 7th, so arriving is straightforward. See the Italian public holidays guide for how patron saint days differ from national closures.
Oh Bej! Oh Bej! — the Fair
The Oh Bej! Oh Bej! is the part most visitors actually experience. It is a street market of several hundred stalls selling craft goods, decorations, antiques, roast chestnuts and hot wine, and it has run around 7 December for over five centuries. The name comes from what Milanese children were said to shout at the stalls — oh che belli!, "oh how beautiful!" — rendered in dialect.
It sets up around the Castello Sforzesco, filling Piazza Castello, Piazza del Cannone and the streets threading around the castle walls. It typically runs for several days spanning the 7th rather than the single day, which makes it easier to fit around than the feast itself.
The fair moved to the Castello Sforzesco relatively recently in its long history — it was historically held around the Basilica di Sant'Ambrogio itself. If you want the religious heart of the day rather than the market, the basilica in the southwest of the centre is where to go, and it is quieter than the castle.
- Free to enter — it is a street market, not a ticketed event
- Around the Castello Sforzesco: Piazza Castello, Piazza del Cannone and adjoining streets
- Runs several days around 7 December, not just the day itself
- Craft stalls, antiques, decorations, roast chestnuts, vin brulé
- Metro: Cairoli Castello on Line 1, or Lanza on Line 2
La Scala's Opening Night
The other 7 December is happening a few hundred metres away and belongs to a different city entirely. La Scala opens its opera season on Sant'Ambrogio every year, and the Prima is a national event — broadcast live, attended by political and cultural figures, and reliably accompanied by demonstrations outside the theatre. Tickets for opening night are effectively unobtainable at face value and the social competition for them is part of the story.
What is attainable: the performance is broadcast, and it is shown on screens in public settings around Milan on the night. The rest of La Scala's season, running from December through the following autumn, is a normal opera house with normal ticketing — see the theatre's own site. If opera is the reason for the trip, almost any other night of the season is a better proposition than the Prima.
How to Plan the Day
Treat 7 December as a market-and-atmosphere day rather than a sightseeing one. Many shops are shut, the Duomo area is dense, and the following day is a national holiday that closes more still. The reward is a genuinely Milanese day in a city that usually feels like a business capital. Where this pair of days sits in the wider month — and why 5–9 December is the most expensive stretch of the Italian winter — is covered in Italy's December.
| Time | Where | What |
|---|---|---|
| Morning | Basilica di Sant'Ambrogio | The feast itself; quieter than the fair |
| Afternoon | Castello Sforzesco | Oh Bej! Oh Bej! stalls as the light goes |
| Evening | Duomo and Navigli | Christmas markets; La Scala's Prima screened publicly |
A workable shape: the Basilica di Sant'Ambrogio in the morning for the feast itself, the Oh Bej! Oh Bej! around the Castello Sforzesco through the afternoon as the light goes, then the wider Christmas market circuit in the evening — the Duomo and Navigli markets are running by then, and the whole season is effectively open from this date.
Milan's other great date is at the opposite end of the year and the opposite end of the price range: Design Week in April, when the city is at its most expensive and most crowded. The Milan festival calendar sets out the year. Milan's other calendar oddity is Carnevale Ambrosiano, which follows the Ambrosian rite and so ends four days later than Carnival everywhere else in Italy.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens in Milan on 7 December?
Three things at once: the feast of Sant'Ambrogio, Milan's patron saint, marking his ordination as bishop on 7 December 374; the Oh Bej! Oh Bej! street fair around the Castello Sforzesco; and the opening night of La Scala's opera season. It is a local public holiday and the start of Milan's Christmas season.
What is the Oh Bej! Oh Bej! fair?
A street market of several hundred stalls that has run around 7 December for over five centuries, selling crafts, antiques, decorations, roast chestnuts and mulled wine. It sets up around the Castello Sforzesco in Piazza Castello and Piazza del Cannone, and is free to enter. The name is dialect for "oh how beautiful!"
Can you get tickets for La Scala's opening night?
Realistically, no. The 7 December Prima is a national social and political event, broadcast live and effectively unobtainable at face value. The performance is screened publicly around Milan on the night, and the rest of La Scala's season sells normally — almost any other night is a better proposition.
Is 7 December a public holiday in Italy?
It is a local patron saint holiday in Milan, not a national one — so Milanese businesses close but the rest of Italy works. The next day, 8 December, is the Immaculate Conception and is a national holiday, which gives Milan a reliable two-day bridge at the start of December.
Where is the Oh Bej! Oh Bej! fair held?
Around the Castello Sforzesco, filling Piazza Castello, Piazza del Cannone and the surrounding streets. Metro Cairoli Castello on Line 1 or Lanza on Line 2 both serve it. Historically the fair was held around the Basilica di Sant'Ambrogio, which remains the quieter religious focus of the day.
