7 Unique and Shocking Christmas Traditions From Across the Globe

It’s that time of year again, or as we’d like to think of it, the most wonderful time of the year. Homes are filled with Christmas trees, stockings, garlands and cozy winter decorations, and there’s no shortage of peppermint bark, hot chocolate and mulled wine available. Children (and adults alike) look forward to that special date when everything feels just a bit more magical and the possibilities seem endless.

Christmas traditions vary from family to family - and of course some people don’t celebrate Christmas at all - but they can also vary a lot from country to country. This holiday season, we thought it would be fun to gather a list of delightful, amusing and outright scary Christmas traditions from around the world.

The Netherlands: Shoes by the Fire

This tradition doesn’t actually happen on Christmas day but rather on the evening of December 5. Before Dutch kids go to bed, they put a gift inside their shoes for “Sinterklaas” and his horse and place the shoes by the fireplace. When the children wake up the morning of the 6th, as long as they were well-behaved that year, the gift for Sinterklaas will be gone and in its place will be a special gift for the little one.

Iceland: The Yule Cat

In the U.S., Santa and his elves are usually depicted as jovial and kind, but in many other countries’ Christmas traditions, there are characters who lurk in the darkness, and they’re certainly not all friendly. The Yule Cat is one such example in Iceland. According to Icelandic Christmas folklore, children who finished all their chores before Christmas day would be rewarded with gifts and new clothes. Children who didn’t finish their chores would have to face the vicious Jólakötturinn (Yule Cat), a terrifying cat that is larger than most houses and will potentially eat the child as a punishment. Not the merriest feline!

Sweden: Kalle Anka

Switching back to a lighter note, let’s talk about Kalle Anka. Every Christmas Eve at 3pm, which is the main day that Swedes celebrate Christmas and open presents, families sit around the television to watch a series of old cartoons of Donald Duck from the 1950s. All the children and even grownups join in to watch "Kalle Anka och hans vänner önskar God Jul" meaning "Donald Duck and his friends wish you a Merry Christmas” You might think that it gets old after awhile, but there’s something charming about rewatching your favorite Xmas shows and movies every December (who doesn’t love Home Alone and Elf?).

Japan: Kentucky for Christmas

We promise this blog post isn’t sponsored by KFC. It’s actually a legit Christmas tradition in Japan! On December 25, families gather around the table to enjoy a large bucket of fried chicken from KFC. How popular is this tradition in Japan? VERY. Families usually preorder their KFC chicken bucket in November, and these holiday orders apparently make up one-third of KFC Japan’s annual sales. It seems like the Colonel Sanders reigns supreme on Christmas Day in Japan!

Catalonia: The Pooping Log

A pooping log?!? Don’t worry. We’ll elaborate :) In the Catalan region of Spain, a tradition they celebrate on Christmas Eve is the annual whacking of the Caga Tió (poop log), also called Tió de Nadal (Christmas log). But first things first: the log must be filled so it can 'poop' on Christmas Eve. Children 'feed' the log on December 8 by filling it with nougat, chocolate, fruit, nuts, etc. That way, come December 24, the log has had enough to eat and can poop out plenty of goodies. Once the Caga Tió has sufficiently emptied its bowels, families typically burn the log in the fireplace or in a bonfire outdoors.

Austria: Krampus

Instead of getting coal in their stockings if they misbehave, Austrian children have a far more frightening thing to fear: Krampus. Who is Krampus? Oh, he’s just your run of the mill terrifying half-goat, half-demon monster who somehow seems to be St. Nicholas’s associate. On the evening of December 5, St. Nicholas and Krampus both head out to children’s homes. The nice children get visited by St. Nicholas, and he leaves them lovely Christmas presents. Krampus visits the naughty children, and instead of bringing gifts, he either beats the children with sticks, eats them or drags them to hell. We’re surprised more Austrian children aren’t traumatized from the terror of Krampus (we got a bit traumatized just from reading about it!), but based on this tradition, we’re guessing that Austria probably doesn’t have too many ill-behaved children, especially during the holiday season.

Canada: Santa’s Postcode

Let’s leave the scariness of Krampus behind and move onto an absolutely adorable Christmas tradition courtesy of the Canada Post. In Canada, if you mail a letter to the North Pole, Santa will write a letter back to you! For our Canadian readers, here is the address (note the postcode; too cute!):

Santa Claus
North Pole
H0H 0H0
Canada

Letters need to be mailed out by latest December 9 in order to receive a reply before the holidays. You can find out more info about how your little one can mail a letter to Santa via this link: https://bit.ly/3XVzc6h


There are plenty more unusual and surprising Christmas traditions that we discovered, but we figured we’d save some for the following year. Regardless of what your traditions are or how you celebrate this time of year, we hope that your December is filled with an abundance of love, joy and delicious eats!