Christmas traditions from around the world

[AnotherShirtRuined]

We're hosting Christmas for the first time this year, and since the children are now big enough to appreciate them, are looking to make our own family traditions and would love to include some of the best traditions from around the globe. So if you're from another country, what are your favourite Christmas traditions and why? It could be food, decorations, how you celebrate Christmas, anything.

Australia here. My family has a traditional Christmas meal. Turkey, roast meats, Ham, all the roast vegies, then Xmas plum pudding, Trifle, and pavlova. Night meal we have left over cold meat and salad.
A lot of aussies have a more relaxed xmas, with a beach picnic or bbq.
Usually hot here. The best tradition I love about having Christmas in summer, is Carols by Candlelight. Carols in the park, candles, staying out late on a nice warm night Or Xmas eve, can watch the city ones on TV.

Love reading threads like this and seeing how other countries celebrate Christmas. Especially fascinated by the Australia posts, as being hot, going to the beach and having a picnic sounds back to front to my ears!
If you tried having a beach picnic on Christmas Day here you'd probably end up with frostbite. Always freezing cold.
Will be following this thread as love reading about other Christmases.

From New Mexico in the States.
We have posole, tamales, spanish rice, refried beans, salsa, a green salad, guacamole, and tortilla chips for Christmas Eve dinner before going to a church service that features the children. Then we look at area homes decorated with Christmas lights and come back to eat cherry pie.

Thank you all. I love the idea of (New) Mexican food on Christmas Eve!

I second DontStopBelievin, Christmas on the beach would not work too well here , but it sounds wonderful!

Please keep them coming.

Oh I love the idea of spicy Mexican food in Christmas Eve but DS is insistent we have sausages and mash on Christmas Eve. And our visitors on Boxing Day can't have spicy food.
I'm definately going to add it in somewhere!

Here in Ireland everyone watches the Late Late toy show. (I think it's on this Friday night actually.) It's the LAW!!! Everyone watches it and then complains that it's not as good as it used to be.
Also we put a candle in the window on Christmas eve to welcome travellers and the holy family.

gabsdot What do you mean you THINK it's on Friday night? Of course it's on Friday night! I hope you have your LLTS jumper from Penneys!

Can't wait for the Toy Show. Husband out at a thanksgiving dinner with family but our little one is only 18 and it's starting well after bed time. So plan is Pop her in bed, into my pjs, order in Chinese and a glass of wine :) looking forward to it....still gutted i didn't get tickets again :)

18m not 18

NZ.

Christmas Eve I'm working but we'll do a fun dinner and the boys will watch a movie in their pyjamas before hanging stockings up and going to bed.

Champagne and orange juice for breakfast with croissants. Boys open stocking presents normally downstairs before breakfast - they're generally small things.

After breakfast clear up and ducks in to roast. Dog walk on the beach, back home for more 🍷, chocolate, nibbles, tree presents, Christmas music on.

Late lunch of roast duck pancakes, with Christmas pud, pavlova, more 🍷, then an afternoon playing games, or with Christmas toys. Supper of fresh bread, cold meats & cheeses, veges and dips, then bed.

Very laid back, very low key, very easy. We may do a BBQ one year just for fun, or if I'm not working (am this year) go camping and have Christmas Camp :)

Prawns for starter in Australia, peeled at the table in a race against your family to see who can eat the most.

The Boxing Day tradition is to try and sneak all the prawn scraps into your neighbour's wheelie bin so your own doesn't get stinky in the heat

We always have cinnamon rolls and orange juice for breakfast on Christmas morning. Lunch is ham and all the sides.

I'm American :)

Australia, here.

If your fridge isn't filled with beer and seafood, you're doing it wrong.
Find the nearest rellie with a backyard pool- they're hosting.

Everything is cooked Christmas Eve. Everything. Ham, potato salad, pavlova, home-made icecream, you name it. The only cooking implements allowed on Christmas Day are the barbecue, the kettle and the microwave.

Christmas photos involve dripping wet children clutching icecreams, men in shorts and thongs holding beers and looking seriously at the barbecue, and women in singlets skolling sipping champagne and fanning themselves.

Everyone helps with the dishes. Little kids put the cutlery away, big kids do the plates and glasses, grown-ups sort out leftovers.

Cold Christmas just seems odd!

Japan - KFC on xmas eve, specifically for couples. I am embracing it with the dc, less work!

Getting all sentimental hearing reading this- love the Toy Show. Wonder if we can stream it here in UK. We have a rare babysitter tonight though so may try to watch it with toddler DD tomorrow if we can!

Rinceoir, its available internationally on the RTE player! So tune in and enjoy my love :) I'm in Lux and have given DH specific instructions to get yummy hot choc from Neuhaus and a bottle of Baileys to sip along tonight while watching.

We used to live in Catalonia and have a Caga Tio. It is the source of much amusement and talk amongst DC's friends and their parents.

. We even sing the song in Catalan.

Excellent. That's tomorrow sorted so!

We try to do something similar too, OP, although so far it hasn't branched beyond having a big meal on Xmas Eve (as many European countries do) with Polish cabbage and mushroom dumplings for the starter. We have some v. good Polish delis near us so can get fresh.

That said we did take dc to Amsterdam last year for the Sinterklass parade so the eldest is well aware that kids in other countries have different traditions.