Christmas - celebrations throughout the countries of Europe
Christmas is an annual celebration, mostly religious and but also secular. In many countries it is one of the most important holidays of the year. How Christmas is spent, depends on culture and religion. Christmas traditions around the world have their similarities and differences.
Finland:
In Finland Christmas is one of the most important holidays of the year. It is also a religious and secular celebration. Finns usually start celebrating on Christmas eve, 24th of December even though people have been preparing for it earlier in December. During the morning of Christmas eve, you can smell the rise porridge with juice made of plums which is a very traditional breakfast on Christmas. The Christmas tree can be decorated during Christmas eve or earlier that month. At noon you can watch or listen to the declaration of Christmas peace which has been a tradition in Finland for about 700 years. A lot of people go to church on Christmas and visit the graves of their loved ones. One of the main events that day is Christmas dinner, usually eaten at home with family. Traditional foods to eat are potatoes, ham, fish, casseroles with potatoes, carrots, swedes or sweet potatoes, beetroot salad and Karelian hot pot. Traditional desserts are gingerbread cookies and pastries filled with jam. It is also very common to drink glögg. Christmas presents are usually given during Christmas eve. In families with children Santa Claus might visit the family and hand out the gifts and Finnish people actually believe that Santa Claus is from Lapland. Christmas day (25th December) and Boxing day (26th December) are also important days for Finns, especially for religious people. Christmas time ends in Epiphany.
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