- Tree goes up
- 8 December (Festa dell’Immacolata / Immaculate Conception), the widely-cited “official” start
- Tree comes down
- 6 January (Epiphany / La Befana), when the folkloric gift-giving witch La Befana visits and the season formally ends
- Local superstition
- General Southern/Central European Epiphany-end norm; no unique bad-luck belief beyond that.
Why that date
8 December is a national public holiday marking the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, and has become the conventional day Italian families decorate their tree and nativity (“presepe”), which is at least as important as the tree itself.
What actually happens
Local exceptions exist: Milan traditionally decorates on 7 December (Feast of Sant’Ambrogio, the city’s patron saint) and Bari on 6 December (Feast of San Nicola); La Befana, the gift-bringing witch of 6 January, is a distinctively Italian Epiphany figure.
Taking it down again
6 January (Epiphany / La Befana), when the folkloric gift-giving witch La Befana visits and the season formally ends. General Southern/Central European Epiphany-end norm; no unique bad-luck belief beyond that.
If you would rather not have this argument again next year, the calendar reminder on the home page will put both dates straight into your phone.
Sources
When the answer is finally yes
The bit you actually need
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