Befana the New Year, called Giubiana in Northern Italy, with clear Celtic origins. Italian anthropologists Claudia and Luigi Manciocco, in their book "Una casa senza porte" ("A House without Doors") trace Befana's origins back to Neolithic beliefs and practices. The team of anthropologists also wrote about Befana as a figure that evolved into a goddess associated with fertility and agriculture. Befana also maintains many similarities with Perchta and her Pre-Christian Alpine traditions. The Befana is celebrated throughout all of Italy, and has become a national icon. In the regions of the Marches, Umbria and Latium, her figure is associated with the
Christmas in Mexico replaced by turkey or ham. After dinner adults drink ponche or cider and children play with sparklers, called luces de Belen (Bethlehem lights). Christmas presents are usually opened at the strike of midnight. The rest of Christmas Day is quiet in Mexico as families recuperate from the festivities the night before, often eating leftovers from the midnight dinner. December 28 is Mexico’s version of April Fools' Day called Los Santos Innocentes (The Sainted Innocents) originally to commemorate the infants killed by King Herod with the aim of avoiding the arrival of Christ. It is also said that on this day