Four Holiday Traditions Celebrated Around the World
The Holiday season looks a lot different around the world as many cultures have passed down customs and traditions that are native to those areas. In addition to making the holiday memorable, these traditions serve a higher purpose. Traditions build a sense of stability, unity and identity. Regardless of whatever else is happening during the holiday season, family members look forward to and count on participating in family traditions, or making new ones. Here is a list of four different holiday traditions celebrated around the world!
Christmas Markets, Germany
America is no stranger to Christmas markets, but the earliest mention of Christmas markets can be traced to medieval Germany, although they likely appeared vastly different from today’s sprawling affairs that often feature ice skating rinks and towering Christmas trees. Dresden holds the honor of being the oldest. Striezelmarkt, offers dozens of vendors, a carousel, Ferris wheel and puppet shows. Other famed markets can be found in Nuremberg, Munich and Stuttgart. This is an excellent holiday tradition that is fun for the entire family and is beneficial to local commerce and morale.
St. Nicholas Day, Netherlands
The Netherlands, known for its cheese, windmills, tulips and coffeeshops, is also known for their adornment of wooden shoes. St. Nicholas Day is celebrated on December 5th in the Netherlands, where St. Nick kids leave traditional clogs (or just their regular shoes) by the fireplace or door. (Think of it as the equivalent of hanging stockings over the fireplace.) The shoes are filled with hay or carrots for Sinterklaas’ white horse, in the hopes that small gifts will replace this offering. While St. Nick wasn’t from the Netherlands, this holiday brings great purpose to the Netherland’s identify as wooden shoes are deeply enriched within their countries lore and this tradition is a way to page homage to it.
Thirteen Yule Lads, Iceland
Iceland celebrates their Yule Lads most similarly to America’s Santa Claus and dwarves, since each has a different name and personality, and each leaves gifts in children’s shoes for the 13 nights before Christmas. Unless kids are bad, in which case they get rotten potatoes, or worse. The lads are a mischievous bunch, who mostly steal food and other items and slam doors. For example, there’s the Pot Licker, who steals leftovers and then licks the pot clean, and the Skyr Gobbler, who has a penchant for stealing Icelandic yogurt. This tradition helps families lower stress around the holidays and is a fun and harmless way to keep children well behaved during the busy season.
Winter Solstice, U.K.
The Solstice happens twice a year on Earth, once in the beginning of June and once in the later days of December. Winter Solstice is an ancient tradition — possibly dating as far back as the Stone Age — that observes the shortest day of the year. This occurs a few days before Christmas, and even though it’s celebrated in different forms everywhere from Sweden to Iran, England’s Stonehenge is thought to be one of the earliest epicenters for marking the longest night of the year due to the placement of the stones. In fact, the Winter Solstice is still celebrated at Stonehenge, and anyone can buy tickets to experience the sunrise, along with Druid and Pagan traditions. This tradition is on many bucket lists and is an event that brings an entire community together for every year!
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