Winter Holiday Traditions from Around the World
Here in the northern hemisphere, the days have grown short. In cold climates, Nature has gone into a period of pause. Some of Canada’s iconic animals have gone into hibernation or have migrated to warmer lands.
While the natural world quiets, though, many of us are preparing for a season of celebration. In an era when we’re increasingly focused on diversity and inclusion, it can be both fun and educational to learn about and incorporate holiday traditions from other cultures around the world. So, in addition to stringing up your twinkling lights, trimming the tree, and making festive foods, you might add in some new world flavour this year as you explore other cultures or start new traditions with your family.
Winter holidays celebrated around the world
Hanukkah
Many of us are already familiar with the Jewish Festival of Lights, celebrated for eight days each November or December (this year, it began on November 28). Based on the Hebrew word for “dedication,” Hanukkah celebrates the victory of the Maccabees over the army of King Antiochus IV of Syria to reclaim Jerusalem. Lighting the candles of the menorah recalls an ancient miracle in which a single day’s worth of oil burned for eight days in the Second Temple of Jerusalem.
St. Nicholas Day
Celebrated on December 6, St. Nicholas Day honours St. Nicholas of Myra, who died in 343 AD. His compassion for those in need and his tenderness toward children inspired the story of Father Christmas—or Santa Claus. In many European countries, children leave their shoes out for a special gift.
St. Lucia Day
In Scandinavia, St. Lucia Day is celebrated on December 13. Girls wear white gowns with a red sash and a crown of lights, while boys carry stars. It’s tradition that the eldest daughter in a family will bring her family coffee and saffron buns to start the day. St. Lucia Day honours a saint from the third century BCE.
The winter solstice
For millennia, the winter solstice—or the shortest day and longest night of the year—has been a significant occasion for humankind. In fact, the Christian Christmas was likely overlaid on celebrations of the winter solstice as the pull toward marking a spiritual moment was so strong this time of year. (The pagan public holiday Saturnalia, celebrated in ancient Rome, was perhaps the precursor to the December 25 date of Christmas.)
This day marks the gradual turn of the sun back toward earth in the northern hemisphere, though it marks the opposite in the south. In many cultures, rituals are performed. The Hopi Indians in the Southwest US perform a purifying ritual intended to coax the sun to return from its winter slumber. In China, Dong Zhi or the Chinese Winter Festival has been celebrated on or around December 22 for over 2,000 years since the Han Dynasty. In Peru, Inti Raymi celebrates the sun god with a mass, flag raising, parades, and blessings from June 21-24, when the southern hemisphere’s winter solstice occurs.
In Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan, families gather on Yalda night, the longest and darkest night of the year. They read poems and eat a variety of foods that remind them of the sunrise, including fruits like pomegranates and watermelon, nuts, and other treats.
Kwanzaa
During the days between December 26 and January 1, millions of people of African heritage celebrate Kwanzaa, which means “First Fruits.” This non-religious holiday honours family, community, and heritage and has its origins in ancient harvest rituals. Families decorate their homes with fruits and vegetables and light a candle holder known as a kinara.
Diwali
During the five days of the Hindu holiday Diwali, people in India and around the world decorate their homes in lights, exchange gifts, and make (and eat) special foods. This year, Diwali was celebrated beginning November 3.
New Year
The Gregorian calendar’s year begins on January 1. In anticipation, many cultures celebrate the end of the old year and the beginning of the new. In Japan, Shōgatsu or the Japanese New Year, is celebrated as the most important holiday of the year. Omisoka is New Year’s Eve and Ganjitsu is New Year’s Day. Families gather for a late dinner on Omisoka and at midnight visit their shrine or temple. At midnight, bells are rung 108 times to symbolize the 108 earthly temptations of Buddhism—a traditional Japanese belief is that the bells rid the sins of the past year.
In Hong Kong, as well as in other areas of Asia, people ask their gods and the ghosts of their ancestors to fulfill their wishes for the year ahead. A list of names of the living is attached to a paper horse, which priests set on fire. The smoke is believed to carry the names and the wishes of the living to the gods.
Chinese New Year is celebrated at the beginning of the traditional Chinese lunisolar calendar. More than 20% of the world celebrates the Lunar New Year, and it’s the most important holiday in the calendar. The Year of the Tiger will be welcomed in beginning January 24, 2022. Many children dress in new clothes. Families and communities gather to carry lanterns and join parades behind a silk or paper dragon, which is the Chinese symbol for strength. Legend has it that the dragon slumbers most of the year, so children and adults throw firecrackers to keep it awake.
Christmas holiday traditions from other cultures
Even the shared holiday of Christmas comes with a wide variety of traditions around the world. Some look familiar to those of us who came from cultures heavily influenced by the British, German, and French Christmas heritage—there are trees, sweets, gifts, and religious observances. In other cultures, Christmas looks a bit different. In Ukraine, Christmas trees are decorated with spiders and spiderwebs, honouring a legend in which a widow and her children grew a tree from a pine cone and had nothing to put on it, so spiders decorated the tree with their webs. Spiders and their webs are symbols of good luck for the new year. In Ireland, families put a tall candle on the windowsill to burn all night to light the way for Mary and Joseph. And in Japan, families wait in long lines for Kentucky Fried Chicken, a tradition that has endured for 50 years after Takeshi Okawara, the owner of the first KFC in Japan, dreamed it up as a marketing scheme in 1970.
Laughter aside, there are a few common threads between the world’s variety of winter celebrations. Our holidays are a time of peace and togetherness, a chance to reflect on what has been and what will be. We bring light to the darkness and joy to our loved ones’ hearts. We carry on old traditions from our families and cultures of origins while welcoming new ones.
However and whatever you celebrate this season, we wish you and yours peace, health, and happiness, now and in the new year. We’d love to see how you’re celebrating on Instagram or Facebook.
