Have you ever wondered what Christmas traditions around the world look like? Christmas celebrations look different depending on what country, town, or even family you’re celebrating with. However, you don’t have to focus on the differences in how this popular holiday is celebrated—instead, take a look at the similarities in Christmas traditions around the world!
As you learn about Christmas traditions from different people and cultures, think about how you can add light to your own Christmas traditions and even share that light with others. For more inspiration on how to make this Christmas more meaningful, visit the Light the World website.
How Many Countries Celebrate Christmas?
Of 195 countries in the world, more than 150 countries celebrate Christmas—these countries have marked Christmas as a nationally-recognized holiday. Many people see Christmas as a religious holiday, while others simply enjoy participating in this festive time of year. Even though Christmas is not an official public holiday in all countries, it is still one of the most widely celebrated holidays around the world.
Does your family celebrate Christmas? Do you know if or how your ancestors celebrated Christmas? Talk to your family to learn about the impact this holiday season has had across generations and across countries. You might even be inspired to write some of them down, like these three heartwarming family Christmas stories.
Holiday Memories Are Treasures That Can Connect Generations
The Music of Christmastime
Getting into the holiday season in many cultures around the world includes listening to Christmas music and singing Christmas songs. You might be familiar with walking into a shop near the end of November and hearing popular holiday tunes on the radio. In some countries, such as the Philippines, Christmas music can be heard as soon as September! The Christmas season is called Kapaskuhan in Filipino, and it lasts for months.
Christmas music is a widespread tradition around the world, and many songs have spread beyond their country of origin as people travel and migrate and pass their music down to the next generations. Carols such as Germany’s “O Tannenbaum” and Ukraine’s “Shchedryk” (or “Carol of the Bells”) are long-time holiday classics that you can hear in many places.
More recent songs such as the United States’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” Venezuela’s “El Burrito de Belén,” and the Cantonese song “Lonely Christmas,” are gaining popularity. Consider sharing your Christmas playlist with family and friends to see the similarities. You might find some new favorite holiday tunes!
If you already have a tradition of caroling or listening to Christmas music, consider how you can share the fun of Christmas tunes with others. Maybe you can go caroling to those who live alone or invite a new friend join in some Christmas karaoke.
Decking the Halls for Christmas
It isn’t quite the Christmas season if it doesn’t look like the Christmas season. A common Christmas tradition around the world is decorations. While the availability and material of decorations may vary depending on culture, religious beliefs, location, resources, and even climate, you’ll be able to tell it’s Christmas based on some common festive sights.
A classic Christmas tree is a simple way to get your home ready for the holidays. The traditional image of a Christmas tree for many people is an evergreen covered in lights and ornaments. In countries where fir trees are less abundant, people have found other Christmas plants to decorate with and invite the Christmas spirit. For example, mango and banana trees in India are covered with ornaments, wooden trees (charamicos) are handcrafted in the Dominican Republic, and some people in Australia decorate with vibrant, flowered Christmas bushes!
Nativity scenes are also a popular Christmas decoration in many cultures, from rough wooden images, to elaborate porcelain figurines, to detailed scenes delicately carved out of gourds. St. Francis of Assisi is attributed with creating the first nativity display to remind those around him of the reason for the season. A favorite practice in some areas of the world, such as South America, is to not place the baby Jesus in the manger until Christmas morning, to signify his birth.
In the nativity story, a new star appeared in the sky to signify the birth of Jesus Christ. Thus, stars have become a very popular Christmas decoration, whether it be on top of a Christmas tree, hanging in your window, or strung up around a town square. You may see Morovian stars in Suriname, paróls in the Phillipines, or froebel stars in Germany!
How did your family decorate the house for Christmas when you were growing up? Would you decorate before Thanksgiving or after? Would you get real Christmas trees, bushes, and greenery, or lifelike artificial plants? Perhaps you have a nativity set that has been handed down for generations, or maybe you have a hobby of collecting them! Consider how you could share the fun of Christmas decorating with someone else—perhaps by helping a friend put up Christmas decorations this year.
Whatever your Christmas decoration traditions may be, preserve those memories. You can take photos of your family with the Christmas decor in your home that you can save on FamilySearch Memories. Future generations will want to know how you made a house feel like home for the holidays. Check out this blog post for more ways to involve family history in your holiday celebrations.
Delicious Christmas Dishes
Many people around the world associate specific foods and flavors with Christmas. For people in Brazil and Italy, the taste of panettone signals the height of the Christmas season. For people in Japan (a country with a small Christian population that still widely celebrates Christmas), fried chicken has become a Christmas staple.
With the technology of today, it’s easy to try new Christmas recipe traditions from around the world! You might try making some mombasa pumpkin pudding from Kenya or Bacalhau da Consoada from Portugal. Looking for some quick ideas? Be sure to check out our list of delicious Christmas recipes from across Europe!
Making, sharing, and celebrating food is part of most Christmas gatherings. Consider bringing the love and warmth of traditional family recipes to others by sharing a plate of holiday goodies with a neighbor or inviting someone to join your family’s table for a holiday meal. Don’t forget to record memories of your family’s favorite Christmas dishes on FamilySearch Memories! You’ll want to share with future generations how your family grew closer together over some well-loved holiday recipes—and make sure they have your family’s own traditional recipe!
Christmas Gift Givers
A popular Christmas tradition around the world is the act of giving gifts. In Christianity, this tradition is sometimes thought to be based on the wise men who brought gifts for the birth of Jesus Christ or based on the gift of Christ's Atonement.
Part of Christmas gift tradition is a figure in charge of giving gifts. Santa Claus is one of the most well-known Christmas gift givers, though he goes by different names in different languages. You might hear him called Papa Noël in France, Sinterklaas in the Netherlands, and Father Christmas or St. Nicholas in the United Kingdom.
Santa is not the only Christmas gift giver in the world. In Italy, La Befana is an old woman who rides a broom to deliver stockings full of candies. The 13 Yule Lads in Iceland will each visit children over the 13 nights before Christmas.
In Paraguay, it is Los Tres Reyos Magos (the Three Kings) who bring gifts. You might also see Santa Haraboji in South Korea, dressed in traditional robes of green instead of red.
How did your grandparents and other ancestors receive gifts on Christmas Day? Does your family have any Christmas traditions when it comes to waiting for a gift giver? Maybe you stayed up late to try to catch a glimpse of Santa Claus, or you left out food and drinks for the Three Kings and their camels.
Service at Christmastime
Sometimes the most meaningful gifts are the ones money can't buy. Many people have a tradition of finding ways to give service or be more charitable at Christmastime. Maybe you have a tradition of participating in service activities such as volunteering at a charity, visiting neighbors and loved ones, or bringing treats and gifts to others. Individuals and families can do many simple things to bring meaning to the Christmas season through service.
If you want to make your Christmas traditions more service-oriented, consider participating in the yearly Light the World invitation. Light the World "is a special invitation from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ by sharing His light with others during the Christmas season through acts of kindness."
Regardless of your religious beliefs, you're invited to join in brightening the holiday season by participating in simple acts of kindness and love. For example, you can locate a Giving Machine near you for a fun and simple way to donate to many charities throughout the world. You can also download a free printable with a list of ways to add service to many Christmas traditions you may already have in your holiday plans. Information about these activities and many other ideas can be found on the Light the World website.
When to Celebrate Christmas
Did you know that some people celebrate Christmas for longer than the 24 hours of Christmas Day? Depending on various religious and secular traditions, Christmas can be celebrated as early as September or November, or it can go as late as the beginning of January.
Before Christmas Day
Some cultures observe Advent, a period of reflective preparations starting 4 Sundays before Christmas and leading up to Christmas Eve on December 24. For those who practice it religiously, Advent represents a time of preparation for the birth of Christ, but also often a preparation for Christ’s Second Coming. In Hungary, Advent calendars often contain chocolates or other sweets, and daily Masses are held every day up to Christmas.
Christingles are a common Christmas tradition during Advent in many parts of the world with large Christian populations. Christingles are given to children and are made up of a lit candle placed in the top of an orange with a red ribbon around it, symbolizing Christ, the love of God, and the world.
Christmas Day
The actual day of Christmas can vary in different countries. Most countries place Christmas on December 25, based on the Gregorian calendar. If a country or culture uses the Julian calendar to calculate holiday dates (or the Coptic calendar in the case of Egypt), Christmas will instead fall on January 7.
After Christmas Day
Some cultures celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas, the time between December 25 and January 6 (or January 7 to January 19 in the Julian calendar). These 12 days represent the nativity of Jesus Christ and the journey of the wise men to visit him. The 12 days of Christmas end with Epiphany. In Ethiopia, Ephipany is a large festival followed by a day of religious rituals.
Let It Snow! Or Not?
Snow is a classic part of Christmas tradition—well, it is if you live in an area that has a regular history of snowfall during December and January. In 2017, one forecast visualized the probability of different areas in the world getting a white Christmas using data from World Weather Online. Ranking in the top 10 that year were Russia, Belarus, Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, Greenland, Kazakhstan, Canada, Ukraine, and Iceland.
The data that year also suggested that over 60 percent of countries in the world had 0 percent chance of snowfall on Christmas. For places like this, such as Madagascar and New Zealand, the Christmas spirit is felt through music, decorations, food, and gifts, but not a Christmas snowfall.
Do you live in a place with an abundance of snow and icicles on Christmas Day? Or do you live in a place where you can enjoy a nice warm walk to a family or friend’s home for Christmas? No matter what the weather is like where you are for the holidays, don't forget to take photos and preserve the fun memories with your family, friends, and loved ones, whether you're building a snowman or soaking up sunshine this Christmas.
What Are Your Christmas Traditions?
We’ve shared with you several Christmas themes that connect people around the world. Traditions are what bring us together, and they can even help us find meaning in life. Did you learn about a tradition in another part of the world that is similar to one of your own?
Wherever you are during this holiday season, you can look for opportunities to continue traditions that are most meaningful to you and your family—or start new ones! Whether they involve food, decorations, music or favorite Christmas activities, gatherings with friends and family are a perfect time to reminisce and ask others about their traditions and memories of the holiday season.
We hope you can fill your Christmastime with meaningful and joyful moments as you share the light of the season with those around you.
Dive Deeper into Christmas Traditions by Country
If you want to learn more about Christmas traditions specific to different countries, check out the articles below, and come back to this page in future years to find more!
