Christmas Traditions
1. Christmas in Venezuela On 16 December, the Venezuelans put out their pesebres - special nativity scenes. From 16 till 24 December they attend early morning mass. On each of those mornings, just before sunrise, the start of the church service is signalled with fireworks and ringing bells. On Nochebuena de Navidad or Christmas Eve, families attend midnight mass. After a large festive dinner, people return to their homes. 2. Christmas in England In England Father Christmas, wearing black boots and a long red robe distributes Christmas gifts. On the night of Christmas Eve, Father Christmas comes down the chimney and leaves the gifts in stockings or socks hung up by excited and expectant children before they go to bed. Christmas dinner, eaten in the middle of the day is a colourful feast with Christmas crackers containing paper hats, jokes and small presents and a plum pudding (Christmas pudding) set alight with brandy. 3. Christmas in Brazil In Brazil, nativity scenes, or “Presepio” meaning bed of straw” are very popular. Papai Noel or Father Noel distributes Christmas gifts in his fine silk clothes. Brazilians traditionally eat turkey, ham, special coloured rice and vegetables. Their homes are decorated with fresh flowers and they celebrate with folk dances and Christmas songs up to 6 January, which is called the Three Kings’ Day. . 4. Christmas in China In China, Christmas trees are decorated with ornaments such as flowers, lanterns and chains, usually made from paper. Small children hang stockings near the tree for the Christmas “old man”, Dun Che Lao Ren, to fill with Christmas gifts such as toy and clothes. . 5. Christmas in Denmark On Christmas Eve, dinner starts with rice pudding with a magic almond hidden in it. Other Christmas dishes include goose, red cabbage and browned potatoes, along with pastries and cakes. The Christmas “plate” is a Danish tradition which has become world famous. In earlier times, rich Danes used to give plates of biscuits and fruits to their servants as gifts. 6. Christmas in The Netherlands The Dutch Christmas season starts at the end of November with St. Nicholas arriving by steam boat. Dressed in the clothes of a bishop, he is accompanied by his servant Black Peter. On 5 December, Sinterklass Eve is celebrated and gifts are distributed. During the Christmas season, farmers blow long horns at sunset over village water wells to announce the arrival of Christmas festivities. People go to church, sing carols and dance.
7. Christmas in Switzerland Beautifully dressed children visit homes with gifts in the week before Christmas. Traditionally, in some villages, bell-ringers compete to call villagers to midnight mass by ringing their bells loudly. After midnight mass, homemade doughnuts are shared among family members. On 6 December, the Chlausjagen festival, or feast of St. Nicholas, is celebrated. All Swiss children eagerly await the arrival of the Christkindli on the 24 December. 8. Christmas in Australia The traditional meal on Christmas day in Australia is roast turkey with baked ham and roast vegetables. As Christmas is in summertime the meal is often served as a cold buffet or BBQ, with seafood and a variety of less traditional dishes. Many people like to spend Christmas day outside, swimming at the beach or playing games with their families. Just before Christmas people gather in the evening outside with candles to sing both traditional English and Australian Christmas carols together. 9. Christmas in Austria Christmas celebrations start with the arrival of St. Nicholas on 6 December. He asks the children whether they have been good or bad during the year and good children are rewarded with sweets and nuts. On Christmas Eve, while the children are upstairs, the Christkind places presents under the tree. After opening the presents and singing carols, families sit down to the traditional meal of baked carp. The world’s most famous Christmas carol “Silent Night” was first sung in 1818 in the Austrian village of Oberndorf. 10. Christmas in Belgium In Belgium there are two Santa Claus figures, St. Nicholas and Pere Noel. St. Nicholas visits the Walloon language speaking people on the 6 December where the good children receive beautiful presents and the bad ones are given twigs. Pere Noel visits the French speaking people. His companion Pere Fouettard is responsible for punishing the bad children. Of course the tradition of punishing bad children is no longer practised and most Belgian children look forward to Christmas with great excitement. 11. Christmas in The Philippines In The Philippines, celebrations begin at dawn nine days before Christmas. Brass bands march through the streets and fireworks are lit to call the people to the Misa de Gallo (The mass of the cockerel). The lively Christmas celebrations continue for nine days up to Christmas Eve where the Panunuluyan pageant is celebrated. In this pageant a young couple acting as Joseph and Mary look for shelter in preparation for the birth of the Christ child. 12. Christmas in Greece St. Nicholas is an important figure in the Greek Christmas tradition and interestingly, all Greek ships have a St. Nicholas icon on them. On Christmas Eve, boys singing carols and beating drums go from house to house with people offering them dried figs, almonds, walnuts and sweets. After 40 days of fasting the Christmas meal is then a great feast. Kallikantzeri is one of the major traditions during the 12 days of Christmas with goblins appearing and playing mischievous tricks.
13. Christmas in Spain In Spain, a special dance called a Jota is performed. Hay or barley is placed inside shoes for the tired camels belonging to the Three Wise Men. Christmas Eve is called Nochebuena or Good Night and Navidad is the Spanish word for Christmas. . 14. Christmas in Chile Little clay figures or pesebre are placed near the Christmas tree in Chile. Father Christmas, known as Viejito Pascuero in Chile, arrives in a similar way to Santa Claus with reindeers pulling his wagon or sled. He wishes everyone Feliz Navidad y un Prospero Anc Nuevo. Pan de pasqua is traditional mouth-watering Christmas bread made of candied fruit. 15. Christmas in Japan Although very few Japanese are actually Christian they still enjoy decorating their homes and shops with Christmas trees. The exchange of Christmas gifts is an important tradition in Japan. Hotei-osho acts as a kind of Santa Claus during the celebrations. He is a Buddhist monk. In Japan, Christmas is also celebrated by doing good deeds, such as helping the needy or the sick. 16. Christmas in Puerto Rico In Puerto Rico Christmas celebrations start in early December. The major celebrations are on 24th December Nochebuena, 25th December Navidad and 31st December Despedida de Ario. During these celebrations the Christmas songs or Aguinaldos are sung and musicians called parranderos play lively music with guitars, tambourines and maracas. 17. Christmas in The Ukraine Christmas is celebrated on 7 January in The Ukraine. The major celebration on Christmas Eve is the Sviata Vechera, also known as the Holy Supper. The Sviata Vechera celebrations start with the arrival of first star in evening sky. This star stands for the journey of The Three Wise Men. Within the family, the father is the first to give the Christmas greeting, saying, “Khristos rodyvsya” which means, “Christ is born”. Family members answer with “Slavite Yoho” which means, “Let us glorify him”.
18. Christmas in Guatemala Throughout the entire Christmas celebrations, various religious statues are carried through the streets in processions, the last of these statues being a representation of God. Interestingly, this last statue is usually white bearded and is quite similar to Santa Claus. This parade is accompanied by the beating of drums, marimbas and chirimias and the crackle of fireworks. Nativity scenes are displayed or plays performed in churches and public areas.
19. Christmas in France Children in France leave their shoes close to fireplace, so that Père Noel (Father Christmas) can fill them with gifts. People and puppets re-enact the birth of Christ in nativity plays in cathedrals and public squares. Most French houses display a crèche or nativity scene during Christmas season. Little clay figures, such as “santons” or little saints are placed inside the crèche. The customary Yule log-shaped chocolate cake is traditionally eaten at Christmas time. . 20. Christmas in Poland In Poland, Christmas is called Gwiazdka meaning little star. The Christmas tree is decorated with stars, nuts, painted eggshells, sweets and painted cookies. One of the most important Christmas celebrations is Wigilia which is a traditional dinner held with family members on Christmas Eve. With the appearance of the first star in the sky, the head of the family begins the meal by taking the oplataek or holy bread. 21. Christmas in Ireland On Christmas Eve people decorate their homes with lit candles which are meant for Joseph and Mary who are looking for shelter. These Christmas candles are usually red with pieces of holly to decorate them. Three puddings are also baked for three days of the Epiphany, i.e. Christmas Day, New Year’s Day and Twelfth Night (5/6 January). At Christmas time the Irish leave their doors unlocked to show hospitality. 22. Christmas in Russia In Russia, people fast and say prayers according to Russian traditions. To honour the twelve apostles, a twelve course supper including fish, beetroot soup or Borsch, cabbage with stuffed millet and dried fruit is eaten. People go to church and sing beautiful hymns and carols on Christmas Day. Christmas gifts are given to the children by Babushka. 23. Christmas in Mexico Christmas in Mexico is known as La Posada. In a procession people carry statues of Joseph and Mary from house to house searching for shelter. On Christmas Day, small children break clay piñatas in a game in which they are blindfolded. In Mexico they also celebrate la misa del gallo (the cockerel mass) at midnight on Christmas Eve. The red poinsettia is a popular traditional Christmas flower.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from everyone at
Business English Training