La Befana Italian Santa Claus - Italian folklore - Buona Befana - Flying witch with basket full of presentsLa Befana, Italy Christmas Witch, Italian folklore, old woman with magical powers who arrives on Epiphany Eve with gifts for children In Italian folklore, Befana is an old woman who delivers gifts to children throughout Italy on Epiphany Eve (the night of January 5) in a similar way to St Nicholas or Santa Claus. The story is that la Befana was approached by the Three Wise Men who asked her to lead them to the stable where the baby Jesus lay in a