It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year: Traditions Around the World! Rachel Devine
December is a time for peace, joy, and love. It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Even though the world, at times, seems to be upside down, we can still relish in the holidays. Potentially, 2.83 billion people celebrate Christmas, since that is the number of Christians around the world. Christmas brings festive cheer to many diverse cultures and nationalities. While some aspects vary, the unifying spirit of joy and togetherness is a common theme.There are 16.2 million Jewish people in the world who conceivably celebrate Hanukkah. Let’s look at old-world traditions around the globe for both Christmas and Hanukkah.
Amsterdam, Netherlands
The dazzling Amsterdam canals glimmer during the Christmas season. Locals adorn canal boats with festive lights, trees, and decor to compete in the annual canal parade. Families also bike to Christmas markets selling delicious holiday treats like oliebollen (fried dough balls), erwtensoep (split pea soup), and glühwein (mulled wine). The Oude Kerk is the oldest in Amsterdam, it was founded in 1213. Many people enjoy mass at this renowned church on Christmas Eve or Christmas day.
Germany
Germany glows during December with blazing Christmas markets, known as Christkindlmarkts, throughout Munich, Berlin, and other cities. Vendors sell handmade ornaments and classic German foods like bratwurst, potato pancakes, stollen fruitcake, and gingerbread cookies. Another fun tradition is pickle ornaments, where parents hide special pickle-shaped ornaments on the tree for children to find on Christmas morning.
Italy
The Italians showcase elaborate nativity scenes called presepi. People craft miniature figurines for biblical displays in churches and public squares across Rome, Naples, and other communities. Children also write wish list letters to La Befana, a friendly holiday witch who brings treats on Epiphany Eve. Of course, Italian Christmas feasts feature specialty seafood dishes, panettone fruitcake, and delicious pastries. The 7 fishes on Christmas eve is a long tradition in Italian families.
Greece
Christmas trees are not as commonly used in Greece compared to other parts of Europe or North America. Instead, most houses will have a shallow wooden bowl and a piece of wire is suspended across the rim. This wire frame is decorated with strings of beads and small ornaments. Greeks celebrate Christmas Eve with a meatless meal. It typically includes various salads, spinach and leek pies, breads, and seafood. Christmas day, roast lamb or pork is the traditional main protein. Also served are appetizers called mezedes which include foods like grilled octopus. Visiting relatives and friends on Christmas day into the next week is expected social custom to share holiday greetings and sweets like melomakarona honey cookies.
South Africa
In South Africa, Santa Claus is often called Sinterklaas or Kersvader. South Africans love to decorate their houses for Christmas. Strings of lights adorn both outside and inside the house, and a tree with tinsel and baubles can be found in most living rooms. Children eagerly await his visit, hoping for gifts and treats. Traditional South African meals for Christmas include Christmas trifle, gammon with Pomegranate and pink peppercorn glaze. Also mince pies and Christmas cake.
Ireland
An integral Irish Christmas symbol is the evergreen Christmas candle shone in windows to represent welcome hospitality. Irish families also hang mistletoe for good luck and enjoy Christmas pudding, followed by tea or mulled Irish whiskey. On Stephen's Day, groups go a'wren'ing door-to-door, singing carols and collecting donations while carrying wren bird effigies, an ancient cultural tribute.
United Kingdom
In England, Christmas crackers contain small gifts that people open before holiday meals. These pop-able tubes with paper crowns and jokes add playfulness to gatherings. British holiday staples include mince pies, roasted turkey or goose, and the monarch's annual Christmas broadcast. In Scotland, some still practice “first-footing” on New Year’s Day, where the first guest to cross a home’s threshold signifies good fortune.
United States
Americans embrace a blend of customs from around the globe. Classic Americana includes Santa Claus and his reindeer, stockings hung by the fireplace, caroling, Christmas light displays, and New York City's Rockefeller Center tree. Sugar cookie baking, radio broadcasts of “A Christmas Carol,” and holiday movie classics like “It’s a Wonderful Life” entertain households during cozy nights. A big tradition for some is midnight mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral and other places of worship.
Australia
Since Australia experiences summery beach weather for Christmas, many celebrate with outdoor barbeques, cricket matches, and camping holidays. The traditional English-style roast turkey dinner turns into cold platters of seafood, meats, salads, and desserts like pavlova and trifle. Local flair also emerges through concerts like Carols by Candlelight and glowworm-inspired displays lighting up public parks and gardens.
Hanukkah traditions
Hanukkah, also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day holiday commemorating the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in the 2nd century BCE. When the Maccabees reclaimed the temple from the Greeks, there was only enough oil to keep the eternal flame burning for one day, yet it miraculously lasted for eight days.
Some of the core Hanukkah traditions include:
Lighting the hanukkiah - On each of the eight nights, Jewish families light an additional candle on a nine-branched candelabrum called a hanukkiah or a menorah. The center candle is used to light all the others.
Reciting blessings - There are three traditional blessings recited every night during the candle lighting. These blessings give thanks for the joyous festival, the lights, and the miracles performed for the ancestors.
Playing dreidel - Children play this four-sided spinning top game and win chocolate coins called gelt based on which letter the dreidel lands on. The letters stand for the Hebrew phrase “A great miracle happened there.”
Eating fried foods - To commemorate the miracle of oil, it’s traditional to eat oil-fried foods like potato latkes, jelly doughnuts, and dairy meals.
Giving Hanukkah gelt - The tradition is to give children chocolate coins as gifts to teach them charity. Many families also exchange small presents.
This global glimpse spotlights endearing traditions enjoyed by the young and old across many lands. Some of these traditions date back centuries ago. May these customs, both new and old, spark inspiration to kindle your own meaningful Christmas traditions this year!
Rachel Devine is the author of Discover the Power of the Secret Within, along with The Third Road and Lessons from the Needle in a Haystack, all on Amazon.
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