The weirdest Christmas traditions from around the world
It’s that time of year again where we’re wrapping things up and looking forward to a few days off with friends and family.
So to celebrate all things Christmas, we’re going to take a look at some of the strangest Christmas traditions from around the world.
The Christmas Log in Spain
Once a year the Caga Tio (pooing log) comes out to entertain Catalonian children. It’s a log with a smiley face on it that gets fed mandarin peels throughout December (and keeps itself warm with a blanket!). On Christmas Eve, families put the blanket over the log and beat it with a stick so that it poos out presents on Christmas day. On Christmas day itself, children come and see what it’s pooed which is normally nuts and raisins etc.
Befana the friendly witch in Italy
Before epiphany, Befana the witch goes round and fills children’s shoes with sweets if they’ve been good, or coal if they’ve been naughty.
Icelandic Yule Cat
Cat’s are cute and cuddly, right? But the Yule Cat isn’t! He’s been watching you to make sure you’ve bought new clothes for Christmas, and if you haven’t, he will eat you!
Don’t eat too many cookies in South Africa!
Christmas isn’t the number one time to lose weight unless you’re in South Africa. Every year, parents tell the story of a little boy named Danny, who ate all his Grandma’s Xmas cookies. Instead of telling him off, his Granny decided to kill him as a warning to others against eating all the cookies at Xmas!
The Austrian Christmas Krampus
It’s not a good idea to be naughty in Austria this Christmas. If you are, the Krampus (half goat half demon) will come get you and take you to his lair and beat you.
Black Pete
This is by far the most un-politically correct Xmas tradition! In the Netherlands, they have little black slaves that accompany Santa on his journey from Spain by boat to the Netherlands. When they arrive, children dressed as Black Pete greet them, who get their names checked on a list and if they’re good to get sweets.
And we thought our carps in the bath were weird at Christmas! 😀
Hope you all have a great holiday season!
