What: Festa di San Niccolò

Where: Venice, Italy

When: December 1-8

This happy week-long holiday festival celebrates the jolliest of Italy’s patrons, St Nicholas — who also happens to be the patron saint of glass-blowers.

The highlight of the festival is the Regatta di San Niccolò on December 6. It’s a water procession organised by the glass-workers of Venice’s Murano Island, starting in the Grand Canal.