The rest of the world considers us Brits to be at the top of our game when it comes to celebrating Christmas. We’re known to be gleefully over the top celebrating throughout most of December, decorating our homes, both inside and out, eating a gazillion calories in festive food and ensuring our cherished yuletide traditions are performed year after year.
But what about the rest of the Christian world who celebrate Christmas? Do they all do the same as us? Of course not, there are plenty of quirky, fun-filled traditions taking place in celebration of this special time of year.
Homestyle
Decorating homes and Christmas trees is commonplace all over the world. In Bethlehem Christians hang decorative crosses on their doors. Ukrainians decorate their trees with beautiful sparkly spider webs for good luck. Their folklore says if they do, they may be visited by the Christmas Spider who will turn all the cobwebs in the house to gold. Croatia chooses simple advent wreaths with four candles of different colours to symbolise joy, hope, love and peace. Rio de Janeiro floats what is thought to be the largest Christmas tree in the world along with fireworks and festivities in the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon. In Costa Rica, homes are laden with tropical flowers and wreaths of cypress branches and shiny red coffee berries. Greenland doesn’t have any trees, so locals either use driftwood adorned with heather or take the expensive option of importing a Christmas tree. They are then decorated with a mix of candles and dinky little ornaments. Many houses also choose to hang illuminated stars in their windows. Puerto Ricans use palm leaves and foliage to decorate their homes, most often complemented by an artificial tree. Nativity scenes in people’s homes can be found all over the world on the run-up to Christmas, especially so in Italy, Spain and the Nordic European and South American countries.
Fa la la la lah!
Carol singing and visits to friends and family with foodie offerings are popular wherever you live, as is singing, dancing and eating. The UK is a little unusual in that we celebrate Christmas on the 25th of December. Most countries choose to make merry and exchange gifts on Christmas Eve, and celebrations frequently extend into the early hours.
Father Christmas
Father Christmas appears in many guises with a multitude of helpers – representing both good and bad. Babbo Natale in Italy delivers gifts for children on Christmas Eve, and a little witch called Befana fills stockings with presents or black sweets for those she considers to have been naughty.
Black Pete is often seen in December helping Sinterklaas (the Dutch Santa Claus) and keeps a book of which children have been naughty. Papai Noel zips over from Greenland to Brazil to give presents to excited children. In Poland he is known as Święty Mikołaj, in Sweden he’s Jultomten, in Hungary he is called Mikulas, and Dedt Moroz in Russia!
Weird and Wonderful Festive Fun
If you’re in Newfoundland, a knock on the door could reveal a bunch of your friends in fancy-dress ready to perform a comedy act, which they keep up until you can guess who they are. In Ukraine, it’s considered good luck not to eat your Christmas feast until you can see the first star in the sky.
Romanian children go carol singing for sweets and treats in small groups with one of the group dressed up as a goat or a bear with a brightly decorated mask. They’ll play pranks on the carollers and take great joy from being rather naughty.
The Norwegians hide their brooms and brushes, and menfolk fire their guns into the cold night air on Christmas Eve. A Norseman fable says the Christmas season may see witches and evil spirits looking for transport to zoom around the houses.
In the 13 days leading up to Christmas, Iceland’s towns and villages have groups of 13 guys dressed in Icelandic costumes known as jólasveinar – The Yule Lads. They are there to cause mischievous mayhem. One of the traditions is to visit youngsters who leave their shoes on the window sill for the jólasveinar to fill with sweets for good children and, old potatoes for those thought to be naughty.
Some Swiss children live in fear of the much anticipated Samichlaus Parade. Headed up by ‘Samichlaus’ who assumes the Father Christmas role, he wanders towns, villages and cities with his helpers who handout nuts, chocolates, oranges and gingerbread. At the other end of the spectrum on the parade is a scary character called Schmutzli, who dresses in a long black robe and dark beard. He spends his time chasing ‘naughty’ children and when caught marks them with black coal!
Thankfully our British Christmas customs and traditions centre around fun, kindness and celebration – none more so than in the New Forest. Our National Park is full of beauty and friendly locals to welcome you to explore the nature, wildlife and hospitality of the area at Christmas and throughout the ever-changing seasons.
Take a look at our portfolio of over 140 New Forest Cottages, houses, barns and apartments here.