Christmas All Around the World

December 22nd: Christmas All Around the World – Just a little display of Christmas traditions from all over the world

 By now Christmas is all around us and we hope that even in this year you are catching on to the festive spirit by practising and celebrating your Christmas traditions, as best as it is possible. However, traditions can be different for everyone as various traditions exist in different cultures around the globe. Today we are going to have a look at multiple customs that are practised in different parts of the world.

Did you know that in Hungary the parents are decorating the Christmas tree without their kids to surprise them and make them believe that Angels brought the tree? Or did you know that in the Czech Republic people are fasting on Christmas Eve in the hope to envision a “golden Pig” at the wall over their Christmas dinner, which represents a symbol of luck?

Also, something different from eastern European Christmas is that in Russia Christmas Day is not celebrated on the 25th of December but on the 7th of January, because the Russian orthodox church is using the old “Julian”-calendar for religious festive days.

On the other side of the globe, in Jamaica, Christmas is normally celebrated excitingly. On Christmas Eve the “Grand Market” happens. There is a cross between a market and a festival in every city, much to the excitement of all children. The celebrations on the Grand Market last all night, with some people partying up until the morning hours and some ending the evening with a midnight church service.

In the end, however, it does not matter where you are or what heritage you have as long as you are with your loved ones having a good time. We wish you a happy 22nd of December and hope you can practice most of your usual traditions even in the times of the pandemic!

written by Jonas