Christmas in Australia turns the familiar picture upside down. Here December 25 falls in the middle of summer, so there is no snow and no frost, just sunshine, cicadas, and the smell of a barbecue. Australians celebrate at the beach, around the pool, and under the open sky, swapping the […]
Cultural Heritage and Folklore
Christmas in India: Goa, Star Lanterns, and Kuswar Sweets
India is not a Christian country, yet it celebrates Christmas on a scale few places can match. Among its vast population are tens of millions of Christians, and in places like Goa and Kerala, the holiday is woven deep into local life. Streets glow with giant paper star lanterns, kitchens […]
Christmas in Venezuela: Hallacas, Roller Skating, and Gaitas
Christmas in Venezuela is loud, warm, and unmistakably its own. The season fills the air with gaita music, the kitchen with the smell of hallacas steaming in plantain leaves, and, in Caracas, the dawn streets with families on roller skates gliding to early morning Mass. It is a deeply Catholic […]
Christmas in Iceland: The 13 Yule Lads, the Yule Cat, and the Book Flood
No country packs more folklore into the dark of December than Iceland. Here children are visited not by one Santa but by thirteen mischievous Yule Lads who creep down from the mountains. A monstrous Yule Cat is said to prowl for anyone without new clothes, books flood the shops in […]
Christmas in Japan: KFC, Strawberry Cake, and Dazzling Lights
Christmas in Japan looks familiar at first glance, with twinkling lights, Santa hats, and carols in the shops, yet it works very differently from the Western holiday. In a country where only about one percent of people are Christian, Christmas is not a religious day or even a day off. […]
Christmas in France: Le Reveillon, Santons, and the Buche de Noel
Christmas in France is, above all, a feast. The centerpiece is not the morning of December 25 but the long, late supper on Christmas Eve called le réveillon, a meal of oysters, foie gras, and Champagne that can stretch past midnight. Around it sit some of Europe’s oldest Christmas customs: […]
Christmas in Poland: Wigilia, the Twelve Dishes, and the Empty Seat
Few countries keep Christmas quite the way Poland does. Here the most important night is not December 25 but the evening before, Christmas Eve, known as Wigilia. Families gather for a meatless supper of twelve dishes that does not start until the first star appears in the sky. They share […]
Christmas in Spain: Three Kings, El Gordo, and the Twelve Grapes
Christmas in Spain is a long, warm, and deeply social season. It runs for nearly a month, anchored by family meals, religious tradition, and a calendar of customs that many visitors find unfamiliar. There is no single Christmas Day rush here. Instead the celebration unfolds across several key dates, building […]
Christmas in the United Kingdom: Crackers, Carols, and Christmas Pudding
Much of the Christmas the English speaking world recognizes was shaped in Britain. The decorated tree in the parlor, the greeting card in the post, the carol service, and Charles Dickens’ tale of Scrooge all took their modern form here in the nineteenth century. A British Christmas today blends that […]
Christmas in Ethiopia: Genna, Lalibela, and an Ancient Faith
Ethiopia celebrates Christmas on January 7, and it does so in a way that has barely changed in well over a thousand years. There are no Santa Claus, no tinsel, and almost no presents. Instead there is one of the oldest and most devout Christian observances on earth: an all […]