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 5 unique Christmas traditions from around the world The final Christmas countdown is on, and to celebrate, we’re taking a look at unique Christmas practices across the globe. These five Christmas traditions are some of our favourites that we came across. Who knows? They may even inspire your future holiday celebrations!
1. Ukraine In Ukraine, along with the typical bulbs and lights, spiders and spider webs are a traditional part of Christmas tree decorations. Their place on the tree originates from the legend of a poor widow who couldn’t afford Christmas ornaments. After the widow’s children went to bed on Christmas Eve with the tree branches bare, they were excited to find the next day that household spiders had decorated the tree with beautiful webs, which turned to silver and gold as the sunlight touched them. Nowadays, Christmas trees in Ukraine have sparkly spider web decorations, and finding a real spider web on your tree is considered to be good luck!
2. Ethiopia The unique Ethiopian Christmas celebration of Ganna is on January 7th. This date is in line with their Orthodox Christian traditions – the Ethiopian Orthodox Church considers January 7th to be the day of Jesus’ birth. The celebration is focused on ritual and ceremony. Leading up to the day, Ethiopians participate in a 43-day fast where they eat only one meal a day and avoid all meat, dairy and eggs. Christmas Eve is set aside for a special evening mass known as gahad. Services begin around 6 pm and often go into the early hours of the next day. Festivities on the day itself include long processions where participants wear traditional white cotton garments.
3. Kazakhstan The Kazakhstan winter holiday of choice is New Year. Kazakhs decorate with New Year trees, fairies and snowmen. Throughout the day, a feast is prepared with traditional New Year food like dressed herring, baursak (dough fried in oil), and qazu (horse meat sausage). The house is also decorated for the New Year festivities. Come evening, family and friends gather for the feast, sharing speeches about the New Year before the clock strikes midnight.
4. Philippines One holiday tradition distinct to the Philippines is the parol, an ornamental lantern made using bamboo, Japanese paper and other materials, often arranged into beautiful geometric shapes. The parol is lit up with candles, oil lamps or carbide lamps—or in more modern times, electric lights. It is most commonly in the form of a five-pointed star, referencing the star followed by the Wise Men. The tradition dates back to the country’s Spanish colonial period, which brought over the Hispanic practice of carrying light sources during the Christmas Novena procession leading up to midnight mass.
5. Venezuela In Venezuela’s capital of Caracas, early morning Christmas mass is a regular part of the holiday season, taking place between December 16th and 24th. What’s a little irregular is how attendees get there—with roller skates! Strapping on roller skates in order to skate to mass has become so popular that every year, the government closes down the streets until 8 am to accommodate the mass of skating traffic. To add to this unique tradition, children tie a long piece of string to their toe when they go to sleep and let the end dangle out their window. En route to mass, skaters tug on these dangling threads! Bestway has specialized in group, private and custom cultural journeys for more than 40 years. If you’d like to plan a trip that will make your future holiday season extra special (think 2021 or 2022!), don’t hesitate to get in touch at bestway@bestway.com
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Posted by Kierra Jones