Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

Tajani: "With the completion of the M4 construction sites in Piazza Sant'Ambrogio we can think of recreating a small representation of the fair to connect the past and the future, in the name of tradition"

Milan, 4 December 2019 – The most traditional and popular event of the week of Sant'Ambrogio, the Oh bej! fair, returns from 5 to 8 December. Oh wow! This year too, the perimeter of the Sforzesco Castle, in the stretch between Viale Gadio and Piazza Castello, will host the 379 exhibitors including 55 second-hand dealers and six operators entirely dedicated to nativity scenes and decorations for Christmas fir trees.

“With the redevelopment work started in recent years – states the councilor for employment policies, productive activities and trade Cristina Tajani – we have set ourselves the objective of reconciling the popular character of the Oh bej! Fair. Oh wow! with the quality of the products on sale. The fair thus confirms itself as a successful event with over 400 thousand visitors including families, adults and children. Numbers which, at the moment, prevent us from thinking of alternative locations capable of guaranteeing not only the spaces but above all the safety parameters necessary to best enjoy the event which traditionally precedes the Christmas holidays of the Milanese. However, with Municipality 1 - continues Tajani - we have opened a working table to build an appointment that is philologically coherent with the Sant'Ambrogio area, which ideally connects the past and the future, with a very limited number of operators. This is a hypothesis that can only be considered at the end of the M4 construction sites that currently involve the area."

In the over 25.000 square meters of exhibition space, 70% of the exhibitors respond to the renewed operator selection criteria launched in recent years to offer the most authentic atmospheres and the most representative product types of the historic fair in the name of quality and tradition. In fact, there are over 45 product categories: 55 second-hand dealers, 28 artisans, 3 masters of wrought iron, copper and brass, 21 sellers of prints and books, 14 florists, 14 toy makers, 17 sellers of sweets from nougat to candied fruit, as well as 10 traditional sellers of roasted chestnuts and 9 of "Firunatt", the typical threaded and smoked chestnuts, 4 sellers of baskets and 3 of honey and similar.

The 2019 edition of the Oh bej! Oh wow! recorded over 640 participation applications received by the Administration from all over Italy, a sign of the operators' interest. As always the fair hours are from 8am to 30pm.

The Administration has also planned, from 5 to 8 December, another 80 sales stations at the Bussa overpass which connects the Porta Garibaldi station with the Isola district. In fact, the “Alter bej!” fair is located here. who for the occasion will exhibit artisanal self-productions and artistic creations, all accompanied by performances by musicians, jugglers and street artists.