Italy: In one small village in Italy, the anti-smoking message certainly hasn't filtered through, reports Suzanne Bush in Capena
Simone is 9 years old. Yesterday, in between playing football, sitting down for a big family lunch and watching a spot of television, he spent the day smoking, like almost all his friends and the rest of the town.
He's seven years too young to buy the cigarettes himself, but that's okay. "My parents bought me some for the day," he explains, and he's certainly not the youngest child smoking. Nearby, one mother is encouraging Agostino, her two-year-old, to take his first puff, but he doesn't seem very convinced.
Welcome to Capena, a small medieval town to the north of Rome which the anti-smoking message doesn't appear to have reached yet.
Every year, like many towns and villages across Italy, they light a bonfire as part of the traditional festival to celebrate the life of St Anthony Abbot, the protector of animals. Like other towns, people bring their horses, dogs, cats and a host of other animals to be blessed. This is considered auspicious, keeping evil away and bringing prosperity for the year ahead.
But unlike other places, once the fire is burning in the square, hundreds of the town's inhabitants use it to light their cigarettes throughout the day.
The Italian government may have fallen into line with countries like Ireland this month by introducing a tough new law banning smoking in bars and restaurants, but that didn't stop the people of Capena going ahead with their annual smoke-in.
As in previous years, the most eager participants were children, some as young as six. Even the official brochure about the town talks of how characteristic it is to see everyone, "even the children" smoking throughout the day.
Rosalba has been coming from her village nearby for 11 years to take part and has photos of her children posing with cigarettes since they were one.
Her eldest, Giulia, is now nine. "They don't smoke properly," Rosalba explains. "Then again, Giulia did just try inhaling and started choking," she laughs.
"But it's lovely. I'm not worried about them taking up smoking. It's only for one day and they know it's bad for them." Many children are accompanied by their parents, but more worrying are the groups of children smoking all day with no supervision.
Nine-year-old Emanuel proudly announces that he doesn't smoke for St Anthony because it's bad for him. The rest of his friends though, are very much into the tradition. "I like smoking," says 10-year-old Tancredi. "I help out with Mass, then I come here and my parents think it's okay because it's only one day a year." It all began harmlessly enough in Capena, hundreds of years ago, with the smoking of rosemary. Some remain faithful to that custom, but the majority now opt for cigarettes instead.
All this puts the mayor of Capena, Riccardo Benigni, in a rather awkward position, as he is also the local doctor; "It's not a good thing. This I can say as a doctor and a non-smoker. It's not that I like this new tradition. Of course, it's not a good example for anyone, but the origins were completely different."
He says efforts are made to discourage children from taking part. This year, for the first time, there was a sign by the fire, suggesting parents give their children sweets instead. Indeed, some younger children were puffing away on candy cigarettes, but most just ignored the sign.
Possibly the most amazing thing is the fact that the event appears to have passed unnoticed for all these years. Even anti-smoking organisations have been blissfully unaware of it, but Raffaele Luise of the Italian Cancer League says it passes on a dangerous message to children: "I'm convinced that when children associate the memory of their first cigarette with having fun in a happy situation with the whole village and all their mates, these memories can lead a kid to repeat that behaviour."
Back in Capena, Simone and his friends finish their first cigarette and go off to play, but they'll probably be back later. It is only one day after all, and of course it's bringing the town good luck.