The day starts quietly enough. Street sweepers prepare the city. Church bells call the faithful to worship. And the Grand Canal gently fills with vaporetti water-buses as locals go off to school and work. The Venetian tranquility is, however, abruptly shattered shortly after lunch. Class-fulls of children swarm through the streets singing at the top of their voices and banging pots and pans. Welcome to La Festa di San Martino, or St Martin’s Day!

Local children beat out the rhythm on their pots and pans

Much like Halloween the Venetian festival of San Martino gives children the chance to dress up, overdose on sweets and biscuits and generally make a hullabaloo. But instead of celebrating the dead, San Martino recalls a selfless act of kindness. So just who was San Martino and why is he celebrated?

Bas-relief of San Martino on the Church of San Martino in Castello, Venice…