Once again, the Holiday Season is upon us. The store displays, twinkling lights and decorations, majestic Christmas trees, delicious foods and treats, festive music, and the never-ending stream of holiday movies are making their annual appearances. Family and friends from near and far are sharing yule-tide cheer and good wishes with everyone they meet. To borrow a line from a famous Christmas Carol, “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!” But, have we ever stopped to think about some of the lesser-known traditions that make this time of year so special for people all over the world? So, I decided to take a page from Santa’s playbook and visit countries from all over the globe on a voyage of Holiday Tradition Discovery. The first stop on this whirlwind tour is a short visit with our Friends from Downunder, Australia, for their Annual Carols by Candlelight services. On Christmas Eve, famous and unknown Australian performers participate in nationwide Christmas pageants held in each state capital and broadcast across the country. Since it is the middle of their hot summer, the words to the carols about snow and cold are changed to summer activities such as swimming and surfing. From Australia, we will be heading north to the Giant Lantern Festival in the Philippines. Every year on the Saturday before Christmas Eve, the festival is held in San Fernando, the Christmas Capital of the Philippines. Participants from eleven villages compete to build the most elaborate lantern. Originally the lanterns were made from Japanese origami paper and lit by candles but now are illuminated by electric lights. Next, let’s take a short hop across the Pacific to the Land of the Rising Sun, Japan. Other than the usual gift exchange, Christmas is not a big holiday in Japan. That is, until recently. Thank a new, quirky Christmas Day
Giant Lantern Festival
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Aging Times Magazine | December 2021
tradition has emerged in which people feast on Kentucky Fried Chicken. The menu ranges from festive buckets of extra crispy to a full bird feast! In India, families decorate banana or mango trees with lights, handmade ornaments, and cotton wool that looks like snow instead of traditional pine trees. Spicy sweets called kuswar are baked and given to friends and family. Our next stop is Africa. Out of the 54 countries and territories, 38 celebrate the holiday season. Going to church and spending time with family are the most common activities. But there are a few traditions that stand out. For example, Egyptians and Ethiopians follow the Julian calendar, so they don’t celebrate Christmas until January 7th. In Gambia, the people march in massive parades carrying large boat-shaped lanterns called fanal. The people of Senegal, a predominantly Muslim country, celebrate Christmas by decorating mosques with Christmas trees. As we leave Africa, we head north to Europe. From the jolly and traditional to the dark and supernatural, European customs showcase the rich and diverse cultures that make the Holidays in Europe unique and memorable. One of the more recent traditions is Pepperkakebyen, the construction of the largest gingerbread village in the world. Started by school children in 1991, this annual event takes place in Bergen, Norway, from mid-November to the end of December. Mummers’ Holiday Plays can be
KFC Feast
Pepperkakebyen
