The holiday season is that period of the year when every family build memories together. What make the holidays super special apart from the food, family and friends, are the traditions. Some traditions are…well, very traditional. But others can be fun and very unique. Here’s a highlight of the most interesting Christmas traditions from around the world.
In Russia and Ukraine Christmas is celebrated on the 7th on January and not the 25th December like in most other countries. The reason is because the Orthodox Church uses the old ‘’Julian’’ calendar for religious celebration days.
In Czech Republic, single woman perform a very unusual ritual on Christmas Eve to find out if they will marry in the following year. They throw one of their shoes over their shoulders.
In Caracas, the capital city of Venezuela, it is a tradition to close all the roads , so that in the morning all people could roller skate to Mass.
One of the weirdest traditions is in Japan. The traditional Christmas dinner is Kentucky Fried Chicken. It is so popular and well marketed, that people need to make reservations to eat at KFC on Christmas Eve.
In Slovakia , before the Christmas Eve dinner , the head of the family takes a spoon of Loksa- this is a traditional Christmas dish made of bread, water and poppy seed filling.
In Germany they have one interesting tradition. Every German family hides a pickle in the Christmas tree, and the first one of the children’s to discover receives a gift.
In Ireland- they have a tradition to leave mince pies and a bottle of Guinness so when Santa comes, he could have a snack.
In Italy, the Italian children wait for the arrival of Befana- a friendly witch who delivers sweets and toys, instead of Santa Claus.
Christmas Day is celebrated as a major festival and public holiday in countries around the world, including many whose populations are mostly non-Christian. No matter what unique tradition each of these countries has, they sure have one in common- to spend this holiday with the family.
