It’s our favorite time of the year! Christmas is the most loved festival by everyone from all around the world. Some have these unique traditions from all around the world as well and since Christmas is just around the corner it’s time for you to learn about these 10 unique Christmas traditions.
- Japan
KFC Japanese Christmas Colonel Santa
Even though Japan is not the one to celebrate Christmas but they do follow this tradition that involves KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken). Yes, you read that right! While the Christmas is around the corner for them the marketing of the food joint goes up because of a campaign. The slogan of the campaign says: “Kurisumasuniwakentakkii” which translates for “Kentucky for Christmas”. Japanese head to the joint for a special dinner. This tradition has been going for over 40 years! Since very few are aware of Christmas there they usually spread cheer instead of celebrating it religiously. Mostly young couples are seen walking on the streets of Japan and exchanging gifts, which imprints more of Valentine’s Day rather than Christmas
- Lebanon
The Lebanese don’t decorate their trees on this special day but instead they plant the seeds of lentils, chickpeas, beans, and oats in a cotton wool prior two weeks of Christmas. Then they decorate it with the sprouting to represent the birth of Jesus Christ! How lovely is that! On Christmas mornings families gather together and enjoy a good meal of kibble, chicken, and rice.
- Mexico
The tradition is called Las Posadas, one of the greatest Christmas events that take place in Mexico. This big event takes place nine nights before Christmas to denote Mary’s nine-month pregnancy. The event includes people going from house to house with candles in their hands where they sing Christmas songs and are told that there is no room until the last day of the posada – Christmas Eve – the children are welcomed in for celebration. There is also a Christmas Piñata, food, and lots of fireworks which are filled with candies, nuts, and tangerines which is taken a hit on by the kids on the day of Christmas. The celebration lasts from 12th December through 6th January. The nine Posadas indicate the search of a place to stay by Mary and Joseph.
- Ukraine
This is going to sound creepy and beautiful at the same time because it involves spiders. Yes! Christmas and Spiders are apparently a match made in heaven for Ukraine because people hide decorative spiders – thank god – in their trees and decorate their tree with decorative spider webs. It is done. This has taken place from a story of a widow who had found that a spider had spun the web around her tree and the web turned into silver and gold. It is said that if one finds a spider in their tree it will bring them good luck.
- Sweden
They are the early birds and start their celebration on St. Lucia’s day. This is a holiday in which the eldest daughter of everyone has to wear a long white dress followed by a sash and a crown of candle around her head as she sings songs to St Lucia, the patron saint of lights. The ceremony continues with coffee, saffron buns, and ginger cookies. Yum!
- Ireland
Many of us think that Santa prefers milk and cookies after crawling down the chimneys, but the Irish know otherwise. They ask their children to keep mince pie and Guinness for the jolly man in a red suit on Christmas Eve. They also burn a thick candle and leave it at a window as a symbol to welcome Mary and Joseph.
- Egypt
Egyptians follow fast for 43 days before Christmas. They follow a vegan diet and eat nothing that comes from the animals including milk and eggs. On Christmas Eve they attend a mass that goes on from 10:30 PM till 4 in the morning. Once the mass is done everyone goes home to the big meal that awaits them. The meal contains all of the yummy food that they couldn’t eat while fasting for 43 days! One of their popular dishes is Fata, which is a soup that contains rice, bread, boiled lamb, and garlic.
- Estonia
If you are a Christmas person but prefer warm over cold, then you should definitely go to Estonia during your Christmas holidays because their holiday tradition includes family time in the sauna. Yes! They have a family get together in a sauna session. While they are at it, they also enjoy some drink along with the steam bath or sauna. That sounds like a really fun and cozy Christmas I must say.
- Brazil
It seems to have the most fun tradition I’ll tell you why. The children in Brazil wait for Papai Noel or Bom Venhilho also known as Good Old Man. They hang out socks on the window in exchange of gifts from Santa Claus. They have another gift giving tradition called the amigo secreto, secret admirer/friends. These friends/admirers give their loved one’s gifts without revealing their names throughout December. They reveal their names on the day of Christmas.
- Zimbabwe
They begin their Christmas celebration with church service. Once that is done the people visit their friends and families from house to house where they eat delicious food and share gifts with each other. This gift giving sessions usually takes up most of the day and what is left of it is spent by people placing their speakers outside their house and play music that they like. The genre of music can include Christmas carols, contemporary, and even African music – another fun tradition to join in on.
As I mentioned earlier that everyone loves Christmas and these people sure do know how to celebrate it. These were 10 unique Christmas traditions from around the world which are weird, fun, and beautiful in their own way! Which of the traditions did you like the most?