The Befana Market, a Beloved Roman Tradition, Is Imperiled<br />The market at Piazza Navona was known throughout the world." "Now it’s a different Rome, it’s a different piazza," he added.<br />Now, the Piazza Navona tradition "is dead," declared Sergio Balestrini, whose association has organized<br />an annual Epiphany parade at the Vatican since 1986 to celebrate the reinstatement of the holiday.<br />Sales plummeted, he said, because "people got fed up with waiting." Donato Colangelo, a greeter at one of the restaurants<br />that line the graceful square, said this past week: "It’s a sad sight.<br />When city officials decided to reboot the market this year, they decreased the number of kiosks by half "to make room for games<br />and recreational activities for children and respond to the true spirit of this event," according to city documents.<br />The Befana’s traditional headquarters — a kiosk-filled market in the central Piazza Navona here where vendors hawk trinkets, toys<br />and sticky sweets — was a beloved annual pilgrimage, a kid-magnet of excitement, fun and sugar highs.<br />" Ms. Piccirilli said. that My beloved Rome has lost the ability to transmit it’s beauty;<br />why do we always show something inferior to the possibilities that this city has,
