Christmas customs around the world

The Christmas season is for many of us the most beautiful time of the year, as it gives us the opportunity to experience moments of carefree time with our loved ones. These moments are revived through customs and traditions that remain indelible throughout the year. Some of them are more or less well-known, such as decorating the tree, cutting the Vasilopitta or carols. However, there are others that introduce us to the cultural culture of various peoples and are of great interest. In this article, we will take a look at strange customs that are practiced around the world.

Japan

Christmas may not have a long tradition in the country, since only 1.5% of the Japanese population is Christian, but there is one food custom that has prevailed over the years. More specifically, on Christmas Day, the Japanese order buckets of fried chicken from the famous KFC chain, thanks to a very successful advertisement by the company in 1974. Since then, the custom has been established to such an extent that everyone makes restaurant reservations and online orders months before the start of the holidays.

Ukraine

Ukrainians take a different approach to Christmas decorations, as instead of lights and ornaments, they decorate their Christmas trees with spider webs. According to legend, a poor widow and her children grew a Christmas tree by planting a pine cone, but they couldn’t afford any festive decorations… Then, on Christmas morning, they woke up to find their tree covered in spider webs. When the sunlight shone on the tree, the webs transformed into gold and silver. Today, trees all over Ukraine are decorated for good luck with fake webs and small spiders called “pavuchky”.

Catalonia (Spain)

Catalonia has the most bizarre Christmas traditions. Specifically, for the traditional decoration during the Christmas season, the Catalans place a figure in the defecation position, the so-called “El Caganer”, in their manger, which symbolizes good luck and the fertility of the land, so that the following year will bring a good harvest.

In addition, children follow another custom by taking care of a log from December 8th until the new year. This log is decorated with eyes, nose, legs and a red hat (barretina). They must cover it with a blanket and feed it a nut (turron) every day, so that it is always warm and well-fed, in order to “defecate” many sweets on New Year’s Day. On that day, family members place the log in the fireplace and hit it with a stick, ordering it to "bring out" its sweet gifts.

Norway

In Norway, Christmas Eve is believed to coincide with the arrival of evil spirits and witches. In an effort to protect themselves, families hide all their brooms and mops before going to bed.

Italy

Christmas celebrations begin with the signal given by a cannon located in Rome. Then, old furniture is thrown out of the windows. With this custom, they believe that old problems will go away.

On Christmas Eve, children dress up as shepherds and go from house to house, singing carols, while people treat them to sweets and nuts or give them money. People gather in the squares where a competition is held for the best nativity scene. In the evening, they burn the “appo” (the Christmas log) and the Lamp of Fate brings gifts to everyone.

On the night between January 5th and 6th, in Italy, they believe that the good witch Befana comes and leaves gifts for children. It is said that she lived at the time when Christ was born, but she had not managed to bring him her gifts. So every year on that day, he wanders around the country looking for the divine infant and leaves gifts in the stockings of good children, while he fills the stockings of "bad" children with coal.

Slovakia

In Slovakia, during the Christmas dinner, tradition has it that the oldest member of the family throws some of the pudding (usually made from milk, bread, poppy seeds, and something sweet) at the ceiling. The amount that sticks indicates the amount of luck the family will receive throughout the coming year.

Czech Republic

On Christmas Eve in the Czech Republic, single girls can, according to custom, find out whether they will get married in the new year. Each single girl stands with her back to the door of her house and throws a shoe backwards. If the shoe lands with the toe towards the door, then the girl will get married in the coming year. If the shoe lands with the heel, then she will remain single for another year.

Portugal

A special Christmas custom for the dead exists in Portugal. The custom is called "Consoda" and takes place on Christmas morning, when people set up a small celebration in each house and put extra dishes on the table for the souls of the dead.
Venezuela

Going to church early on Christmas morning is a tradition in other countries around the world, but what sets the people of Caracas, Venezuela apart is how they go to church: on roller skates! In fact, the religious celebrations of Christmas in Venezuela last from December 16th to Christmas Eve every year. On the mornings of those days, large-scale church services are held, to which people are invited to go on their roller skates. For the safety of citizens, car traffic is prohibited from 8 am to 8 pm!