10 Cool Christmas Traditions From Around the World

Published December 12th, 2023

From carving radishes to shoe tossing to spiders, there are some unique Christmas traditions found around the world. Here are 10 of them - how many have you heard of?

Japan

Japan has clucking good way to celebrate Christmas, which started in 1974 via Kentucky Fried Chicken. Forget you, turkey, it’s the other bird they want. Created via a very successful marketing campaign dubbed "Kurisumasu ni wa kentakkii!" or "Kentucky for Christmas!," a Japanese KFC manager, Takeshi Okawara. had a dream of a “party bucket,” of the world-famous chicken to be sold on Christmas. Weird? Kinda but not really. He says he heard some foreigners talk about how they missed this popular fast-food at during the Holidays.

Sweden

In addition to being clever climbers, the goat has a place in Swedish Christmas tradition. In 1966, The Yule Goat, thanks to an idea from a local, was crafted out of straw and now referred to as the Gävle Goat. It’s got its own website along with a 24-hour livestream option. It’s a whopping 42 feet high, 23 feet wide, and weighs 3.6 tons and constructed in the same place. In 2022, because of a new city centre being built in its usual location in Slottstorget square, it was moved slightly north and resides in Rådhusesplanaden.
Also in 2022, 24-hour guards were placed on site, double fence was put up and a 24-hour public webcam stream was incorporated due to previous vandalism.

Iceland

Iceland celebrates a bakers dozen for days of Christmas, being 13. Each of the 13 nights approaching Christmas, children of Iceland are visited by the 13 Yule Lads. What’s a Yule Lad? A collection of 13 fellows full of mischief and prank-pullers that steal from and disturb others. Just like the seven dwarfs, they’ve got names that match their specific behaviour.
The tradition involves children placing their shoes next to a window at night and when they awake, if there’s candy, they’ve been good. A rotten potato in the shoe means, well, they haven’t been good.

Finland

Finish families traditionally eat a porridge made of rice and milk topped with cinnamon, milk, or butter at Christmas The difference here is there’s an almond hidden in the batch and one lucky person who finds the almond in their bowl is the winner. Named Risalamande (rice and almond,) it can be enjoyed as-is or with fruits, cinnamon or other toppings.

Ireland

An Irish Christmas tradition is to light and place a tall candle in front of a window on December 24th, with this tradition dating back several centuries.
One origin points to religious persecution faced by the Irish and due to this, they’d find creative ways to practice their faith. On December 24th, a family who wanted a priest to visit them would subtly indicated this through a lit candle in their window.
Another one stems from when Irish families were questioned by British authorities of their candle in the window, they’d reply it was there to attract Jesus, Mary and Joseph to visit them with this beacon. That’s why some Irish light three candles opposed to one.

Austria

In what can be described as a polar opposite to good ol’ Santa, a creature that’s devil-like in appearance bears the name Krampus. The tradition states that Krampus and Saint Nicholas both visit children the night of December 5th with the well-behaved children receiving fruit and chocolate. The naughty ones are punished with birch rods.

Ukraine

In Ukraine, amongst the traditional ornaments, garlands, and lights, they hide a spider and its web. This comes from a folk tale saying that a widow could not afford decorations for her tree, and awoke on Christmas morning to find a spider had elegantly decorated it with its web. These days, good luck is given to the one who finds the spider and its web hidden in the tree.

Czech Republic

Can shoes indicate if you’ll be married in the coming year? In the Czech Republic for this tradition, they do and it goes like this; The unmarried women of the family would stand with their backs to the door, and toss one of their shoes over their shoulders. It’s how the shoe lands that’s the telling point because if the shoe lands with the toe pointing towards the door, it means they’ll be married in the coming year. If the heel points toward the door, tradition says they’ll stay single for the year.

Poland

On Christmas Eve in Poland, there’s a tradition where they don’t start dinner until someone sees a shining star in the night sky. It stems from the Star of Bethlehem, which led the Wisemen to the birth of Christ.

Mexico

Known as “Night of the Radishes,” Oaxaca, Mexico hosts a radish carving competition held on December 23, where the most creative carvings win prizes. The competition aspect has been in place since 1897 while the actual event has been going on much longer.
The nativity scene is a popular choice and there are certainly plenty of other superb sculptures made.
Atlas Obscura’s page says this: “saints, musicians, buildings, even a tiny cemetery where little radish people are celebrating the Day of the Dead. As Mexico is a heavily Catholic country, religious themes are common. Radish replicas of Michelangelo’s La Pietà and da Vinci’s The Last Supper have made appearances. To ensure fair competition, everyone uses vegetables grown by the government for the festival. And these radishes are big: Some grow 1.5 feet long and can weigh almost seven pounds.”