The five most captivating Christmas traditions

By Jenny Beaumont

Christmas traditions vary for everyone, some may think of Christmas as trees, presents and huddling by the fire watching their favourite Christmas film. But in some countries, they do it very differently. This list will have the top five most captivating Christmas traditions

Japanese KFC dinner

Christmas in Japan is seen as a commercial holiday rather than a traditional one. It’s usually spent by couples going on romantic meals and gift-giving. Since it’s seen as a commercial holiday and not a traditional one many businesses stay open. The BBC reported that 3.5 million households in Japan order KFC for Christmas dinner. This became a tradition due to a successful marketing campaign in 1970 by Takeshi Okawara making an authentic Western Christmas meal as turkey wasn’t widely available. It contains various chicken options with sides like shrimp, and Christmas cake for dessert. The demand is high for these Christmas meals, people will pre-order them in October and November, while the outlets having long queues on Christmas eve and day.

Picnicking in South African

In South Africa, Christmas falls in the height of summer. The warm temperatures see many people spending their Christmas swimming at the beach or going to parks. Picnicking is a popular way to celebrate Christmas in South Africa. Due to the summer’s heat, hot Christmas food is out of the picture and instead they eat cold meats, fresh salad and roasted meat. For dessert they have either Christmas pudding or a south African dish, malva pudding. Popular places to have picnics are at coastal cities.

Hiding broomsticks in Norway

In Norway people will hide their brooms on Christmas eve to prevent evil witches and spirits from stealing them and taking them away on the broom. This stems from a Scandinavian folktale that Christmas eve is the most dangerous time of the year where evil spirits and witches walk the earth. Traditionally, the cleaning tools would be locked away in the house before families go to sleep.

Roller skating in Venezuela

Roller skating is a Christmas tradition, especially in Caracas. People roller skate in the early morning to church between December 16th and 24th. It’s known as Las Patinas. The streets become roller rinks with roads closed for safety. Many people decorate their skates and listen to religious Christmas music. This tradition includes everyone with grandparents and children joining in.

Spanish log tradition

The Spanish Christmas tradition known as Tió de Nadal, is when you customise a wooden log with a red hat and feed it “treats” leading up to Christmas. During Christmas eve kids will sing a song to encourage the log to “poop” out small presents and candies. Children are told that if they take good care of the log there’s a better chance of getting more presents.