Happy Epiphany! NOIAFT's Chief Entertainment Critic Giò Crisafulli chats with legend La Befana and Friends, the one toothed puppet transforming the world, one cookie at a time!

According to ancient Italian folklore, La Befana was a simple woman whose life completely changed when one evening the three biblical Magi knocked on her door to ask for directions to Bethlehem. Though she didn't know the directions, she invited them in, and fed them a feast. They told her they were following the bright star to bring gifts to the long awaited Holy Child. The magi then invited her to join them on their journey, but she declined stating she was too busy with her housework. Soon enough she realized her mistake and, with her broom still in hand, ran after the Magi with gifts for the child. But she was too late. On the eve of January 6th, La Befana flies from house to house in a perpetual search for the holy child, leaving goodies behind for the children (and if you’ve been naughty sometimes even coal).

The women behind La Befana's modern mission are our very own NOIAFT members, Kate West and Dina Gregory. In 2013, Kate wrote a children's book based on La Befana in which she puts so much love into her baked star cookies that everyone who takes a bite begins to grow from that love within. It’s a message that West and her puppeteer partner Dina are now bringing to the streets of New York alongside New York City Relief, an organization that hands out much-needed items to the area's homeless population.