Celebrating Christmas with turkey, Christmas trees and Christmas mass is pretty common. Children in Malta believe Father Christmas goes round on reindeers but in Australia he rides a kangaroo, a horse in the Netherlands and a donkey in Switzerland. So what about other weird traditions from around the world?

Venezuela

In Caracas, on Christmas Eve, streets are closed to cars so that people attending mass can go to church on roller skates. The most devout of church goers also make sure to attend all of the Christmas services.

Catalonia

In every nativity scene in Catalonia, hidden at the back, one can find The Caganer. This is a little figurine of a man, with his trousers down, doing his business. It has been a symbol of fertility and good fortune for the past two centuries. Recently, The Caganer, is being depicted as a figure from pop culture including President Obama and the Pope. 

Finland

Families in Finland also find time to remember the deceased on Christmas Eve. Many go to the local graveyard to light candles in the memory of ancestors and lost loves ones.

Canada

Turns out Father Christmas does have a postcode and it’s H0H 0H0 (with the Os written as zeros). This Canada postcode every year receives millions of letters and ever year Canada Post volunteers make sure to reply.

Ukraine

Christmas trees in Ukraine have another special decoration - an artificial spider and web. This is a legend that spans back decades that tells the story of a poor widow who managed to obtain a Christmas tree for her children but had no money to decorate it. During the night spiders spun their webs and when the children awoke the next morning the tree looked like it was covered in silver. To this day the artificial spider and web are considered as a symbol of good luck and prosperity for the year to come.

Japan

Even though Christmas is not considered a national holiday in Japan, many still decorate their homes and give presents to family and friends. One weird tradition is “Kurisumasu ni wa kentakkii!” translated to Kentucky for Christmas! After a very successful ad campaign in the 70s, Japanese flock to KFC for a Christmas dinner which now also comes with cake and champagne.

 

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.