UK Reader's Digest - Christmas Around the World article

◄KFC
dinner? Vodka-quaffing?
Singing trees? Welcome to the
Big Day as you’ve (probably)
Christmas
around
the World
tripping
the light
fantastic
costa rica
never seen it before In early December,
more than a million
people hit the streets
of the Costa Rican
capital San José
when the Festival de
la Luz (Light Festival)
kicks off the festive
season. And what
a season it is—with
the Fiesta Patronal
Pavas, the Fiesta de
la Yeguita and the
Fiesta de los Negritos
mixing indigenous
culture, mythology
and Christianity.
These enormous
parties feature every-
thing from street
dancers dressed as
sun gods to bullfights
(where the bulls aren’t
harmed); from lavish
fireworks to traditional
Boruca Indian flute-
and drum-playing.
In the huge parades,
it’s not unusual to see
floats of Roman deities
trundling alongside
the nativity scenes.
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4
martin
geissler,
Europe
correspondent,
ITVNews; Belgium
Christmas here is about
friends and family—
more Christian than
commercial. that’s not
to say the Belgians
don’t get to spoil their
children, but the gifts
are given three weeks
beforehand, on the
birthday of st nicholas.
and there are two
santas. One, sint
niklass, visits children
twice in Flemishspeaking
households: on
December 4, to find out
who deserves presents;
then again two nights
later, when the good
ones are rewarded. those
who haven’t behaved
just find a pile of sticks
in their shoes! Belgium’s
French-speaking
youngsters are visited
by Père noël, who leaves
presents for the good,
while lumps of coal are
given to those who’ve
failed to impress. But
while some children do
now wake up to find a
few gifts under the tree,
this country has done
better than many when it
comes to maintaining the
true spirit of Christmas.
deck the boughs
with holly
delaware, usa
Every Christmas Day, at
Washington Crossing on
the banks of the Delaware,
100 re-enactors and
thousands of spectators
gather to celebrate the
birth of America as well
as the birth of Christ.
The annual recreation
of George Washington’s
journey across the river
—after which he entered
New Jersey and attacked
the Hessians (German
soldiers employed by the
British)—commemorates
a big turning point in the
War of Independence.
On the big day,
“Washington” delivers
a stirring speech to his
troops before embarking
on the journey in the first
of three replica Durham
craft—a token number
compared to the 1776
crossing, when 2,400
soldiers, 200 horses and
19 cannon were ferried
across the river.
The actor playing
the great man usually
begins his career as a
private on a boat before
“rising up the ranks”
and auditioning to play
the lead, a role that
requires both acting skill
and expert historical
knowledge of the period.
research by rachel smith
opening spread: afp/getty images; afp/getty images (3)
ion orchard
shopping
centre
singapore
People could
actually walk
inside the six-
storey tree that
popped up in
front of this
large retail venue
last year. It was
decorated with
one million light-
emitting diodes
and baubles on
the outside, and
glitter balls on
the inside.
►

◄
north
alberta
jubilee
auditorium
edmonton,
canada
angus walker,
China correspondent, ITVNews
while Christmas is
celebrated by millions
of Chinese Christians,
new Year is the big event
for most. Families come
together, their journeys
home the largest human migration on
the planet. Fireworks are let off almost
constantly, and houses are decorated
with lanterns and the Chinese flag. Food
is an important part of the celebration
—traditional dumplings are prepared
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Forget chocolate Santas and plastic reindeer—this 35-foot tree is
adorned with 150 real-life singers, who form the centrepiece of a
huge annual Christmas concert. Perched on the various branches
(which, mercifully, are solid platforms rather than flimsy twigs),
the singers belt out the likes of “It’s the Most Wonderful Time
of the Year”, “Winter Wonderland” and the cleverly named
grand finale: “Santa Claus is Coming to EdmunTown”.
in advance so the whole family can sit
down and eat (no one’s left slaving over
a wok trying to feed countless relatives).
staying up on new Year’s eve, fortified
by drink, is known as ao nian (after the
monster nian, who’d come hunting).
and on the first day of the lunar month
of January, people go door to door to
greet neighbours. the eldest of the family
hand out envelopes of money called ya sui
qian—“lucky money”—to the youngest.
so: presents, food, family. even though
more than a billion people here don’t
celebrate Christmas, it feels familiar.
edmonton singing christmas tree foundation; images etc ltd/alamy
call that a
christmas tree?
this is a
christmas tree
murano, venice
This little island is famous
for its highly skilled
glass-blowers, so it’s not
surprising that it’s also
home to the world’s tallest
glass tree. Craftsman
Simone Cenedese designed
the 27-foot structure in
2006, blew each of the
branches individually, then
bolted them all together.
►

◄
away in a penalty area
argentina
For a little-known
South American sect,
the Messiah’s birth didn’t
happen more than 2,000
years ago—it was in 1959.
The approximately
150,000 members of the
Maradonian Church of
the Hand of God worship
Diego Maradona, the
Argentine 1986 World Cup
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winner, widely regarded as
one of the best footballers
of all time.
Christmas for the group
takes place on October 30
—the birthday of the man
they call “D10S” (a fusion
of his shirt number and
the Spanish word for God).
Customs include singing
wearing Argentina shirts,
decorating trees with his
picture and, um, drinking
beer and eating pizza.
The church’s other
beliefs include considering
Maradona’s autobiography
I Am The Diego a religious
text, and requiring
worshippers to name
their first child after him.
Diego-themed carols, afp/getty images (2)
christmas with
the colonel
japan
December 25 isn’t a national
holiday for the largely
Buddhist or atheist Japanese,
but it’s become a finger-lickin’
cause for celebration thanks
to the annual Kentucky Fried
Chicken “Christmas party
barrel” lunch.
The tradition started in
1974, when KFC executives
decided it would be a good
idea to give the Japanese
a rough sample of what the
festive season in America is
like—with a Christmas chicken
and wine deal for £6.50. A
lack of turkeys in Japan meant
that a truly traditional meal
was out, but this deep-friedpoultry
alternative was
deemed satisfactory.
The meal has since become
so popular that customers
make reservations as early as
October. KFC‘s sales between
December 23–25 equal half
its normal monthly income.
JOn
sParks,
Asia
correspondent,
Channel 4
News
Despite being a
predominantly Buddhist
nation, increasingly
thais are getting into the
Christmas swing. Carols
are piped mercilessly
into stores, malls unveil
giant Christmas trees,
and inflatable santas and
neon “snowdrops” add
unlikely additional colour
to Bangkok’s streets.
But, for many, the
25th is just the opening
salvo in the celebration
season. January 1 is
a public holiday where
thais exchange gifts
and do some serious
partying, before the
grandaddy of them all:
the traditional thai new
Year of Songkran in april.
no white Christmas
here, but thais will still
reach for their pullovers
as it’s the start of a
brief cool period—a
chilly 250C! my family
will celebrate with a
fine plastic tree from
tesco-lotus, a roast
followed by mangoes,
then a dip in the
community pool
to round it all off!
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◄
rOhit
kaChrOO,
Africa
correspondent,
ITVNews
You’ll witness one side
of “the great south
african Christmas” on
the packed beaches of
Cape town or Durban
on Christmas morning. in
balmy conditions, cheery
families gather around
the braai, or barbecue.
But December highlights
a cruel contrast in “the
rainbow nation”. the
happy “haves” at their
expensive braais are
rarely more than a few
miles from a community
of “have nots”. and the
fault lines of “economic
apartheid” fall roughly
along racial lines—a
“white Christmas” is
often quite different
from a “Black Christmas”.
But the importance
of religion, tradition and
family in many of the
poorest communities
ensure that parents
here work hard to
make Christmas Day
a special one. here,
more than most places,
your wealth, where you
live and what colour
you are defines your
experience of Christmas
—and every day.
eat, drink and
be very merry
belarus
Fortune-telling, animal
costumes, dancing Tsars,
vodka-quaffing…if this
sounds to you more
like a pagan ritual than
a traditional Christmas,
you’d be partly right.
The Belarussian
Christmas celebration
Kalyady has its origins in
ancient winter solstice
ceremonies that predate
the Christian festival. But
it’s now a combination
of the two, beginning on
January 7—the date of
Orthodox Christmas in
the old Julian calendar.
Aside from drinking,
the main custom involves
carol singers going from
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house to house wearing
animal masks and playing
instruments. Amateur
fortune-tellers also try to
predict future romances—
in previous centuries, they
were more concerned with
the quality of the following
year’s harvest.
The village of Semezhava
takes things further with
the Rite of the Kalyady
Tsars, a torch-lit procession
of 500 men who enter the
homes of unmarried girls
to perform the historical
drama Tsar Maximilian and
short comedy sketches, in
return for good wishes and
rewards. Russian soldiers
stationed in the area
started the practice in the
18th century, because they
were bored and wanted
to entertain themselves.
satan’s little helpers
guatemala
While we Brits wait until March
for our spring clean, Guatemalans
clear clutter from their houses on
December 6. Torn clothes, letters,
bills and other flammable rubbish
are dragged into the street and set
alight, along with an effigy of the devil.
The idea is to remove Satan from any dirty
nooks and crannies he could hide in—the Christmas
season can then be approached with a clean slate.
According to one theory, the celebration dates back
to when the Spanish invaders placed lanterns outside
their houses to celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate
Conception. Not being able to afford anything quite so
flash, locals made bonfires to mark the occasion instead.
lonely planet images/alamy ; afp/getty images (2)
a time for family,
alive or dead
finland
In many countries, the
festive season is a whirlwind
of presents, partying and
crackers. But for the Finns
it’s a time of quiet reflection.
On Christmas Eve, while
most Westerners are cosying
up in front of the television,
the Finns trek to snowy
churchyards to place candles
on the graves of departed
loved ones. The custom
stems from the Middle Ages, when a
20-day period of peace—with no fighting
or troublemaking allowed—was
declared each December 24 from
the old capital Turku. n
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