Every country has its own unique way of celebrating Christmas; some follow in the footsteps of their ancestors and sometimes, some make up new traditions keeping in line with changing times.
Below listed are some of the most unique Christmas traditions followed by different countries –
USA
‘The Running of the Santas’ is one of the most unique Christmas traditions created by the Americans. Hundreds of people come dressed as Santa Claus and take part in a large bar crawl.
South Africa
Now, these people really know how to dampen the festive feeling. They tell their children a story about a little boy called Danny who enraged his grandmother by eating the cookies she put out for Santa. The angry mother then killed the boy and his spirit now haunts homes around Christmas. As hard as this is to believe, this is an actual Christmas tradition!
Finland
Finnish people mark Christmas by paying a touching tribute to the dead by lighting candles at the graves of their departed family members and friends.
Canada
Canadians follow the most heart-warming Christmas tradition where Canada Post recognises the address Santa Claus, HOHOHO and North Pole. They read and reply to all the letters received here, making children happy everywhere.
Norway
The Norwegians do not indulge in the traditional cleaning of the house on Christmas Eve. Why? Because they hide away all brooms so that they are not stolen by witches and other evil spirits.
Greenland
People here have curated some of the craziest recipes for Christmas. They eat ‘Mattak’, which is raw whale skin, served with blubber. They also eat ‘Kiviak’, which is prepared by stuffing dead auk birds in seal skins.
New Zealand
They don’t dress conifers as their Christmas trees, rather they dress up the Pōhutukawa tree for their celebrations.
Estonia
They head to the sauna on Christmas Eve as part of their Christmas tradition.
Iceland
The children of Iceland hang their socks on windowsills for all the 12 days of Christmas. Each night, these socks are filled with candies (presumably, by the parents).
Sweden
The Swedes have a fun Christmas tradition wherein they hide a peeled almond somewhere in the customary rice pudding. It is believed that the one who finds the almond gets married within the year.
Which one do you think is the weirdest and which one would you like to take part in? Comment below!
