How does swedish people celebrate christmas

Although the main event is celebrated on Christmas Eve, Swedes know that waiting and preparing is half the fun. No surprises, here. In classic Scandi style, Swedes keep their holiday decorations natural and rustic—nothing flashy or loud. Think wreaths on doors, hyacinths on tables, candles in every room and straw ornaments. Forget jumping out of bed to tear open your gifts as soon as you wake up. In Sweden, kids and grown-ups wait until the sun sets on Christmas Eve before seeing what Santa left them underneath the tree never in stockings hung above the fireplace with care.

No store-bought tags for those crafty Swedes. Hmmm… what rhymes with cashmere sweater , we wonder? Kitschy and sweet? You bet. You may be familiar with the Swedish concept of smorgasbord, and on Christmas Eve Swedes celebrate with a julbord. Fish features heavily smoked salmon, pickled herring and lye-fish , plus ham, sausages, ribs, cabbage, potatoes and of course, meatballs. On January 13th St. Knut's Day , families take down the decorations and dance around the Christmas tree, before tossing it out the window.

They also finish eating any remaining Christmas treats. Maybe just check with your co-op before throwing your tree out. This Will Be the Amazon Coat of Originally Catholic, St. Lucia was a young saint from Italy who became convicted for illegal witchcraft. In Sweden, she is celebrated in December in the form of young girls dressing up as her and singing to an audience at schools, work places, and nursing homes.

They are great singers; the performance is well planned; and most importantly, sometimes you get a free Christmas cookie afterwards. As you might know, Sweden is good at bord, and at Christmas, Swedes bring out the real deal.

Bord can be translated to table and basically means that a variety of delicious foods are served in a buffet style for everyone to eat. For Christmas, there is almost everything from Christmas ham or turkey and meatballs to pickled herring and anchovies pot. The feast ends with a dessert known as rice pudding, a porridge made of rice, cream, and sugar, sprinkled with cinnamon and served with fruit punch. Sweden loves Christmas. Indeed, the people love it so much that they begin celebrations about a month in advance.

However, in modern Sweden, it is just an excuse to sit down once a week and eat some lussebullar. Advent is celebrated every Sunday, beginning four weeks before Christmas, and most traditionally, a candle is lit for each Sunday that has passed. On the fourth Sunday, either before or after Christmas Eve, all candles have been lit and the wait is over.

Because of their love of Christmas, the people of Sweden get so excited that they begin counting down to the big day 24 days early. The following day is Second Day Christmas, a day of singing carols. On January 5, the eve of Twelfth Night, or Epiphany, young boys dress up as the Wise Men and carry a lighted candle on a pole topped with a star.

These boys go from house to house singing carols. Then on St. Knut's Day on January 13, there is one last Christmas party. The grown-ups pack away the Christmas decorations while the costumed children eat the last of the wrapped candies left on the tree. Then out goes the tree to the tune of the last song of Christmas. No two countries celebrate Christmas exactly the same way. But while people around the world might have different traditions, Christmas is always observed with a sense of wonder and reverence, with friends and family gathered.

That's a Christmas tradition we all share. Sign up for our Newsletter! Mobile Newsletter banner close. Lutfisk is dried ling or sathe soaked in water and lye to swell before it is cooked.

Once all have eaten their fill, Father Christmas himself arrives to wish the gathering a Merry Christmas and distribute the presents. Christmas, which commemorates the birth of Christ, has long been the most important festivity of the year. In the old days, it was a feast for the whole household as there was plenty of fresh food to be had. The food was to be left on the table overnight, as it was then that the dead came to feast. Homes were cleaned and decorated with wall hangings, and fresh straw was laid on floors.

The birds were given an oatsheaf and the mythical farmyard brownie a plate of porridge. The practice of bringing a Christmas tree into the house and decorating it was imported from Germany in the s.

Initially, Christmas presents were given anonymously, and playfully, often in the form of a log of wood or the like wrapped up and tossed through a front door.

In the s, people began giving one another real presents, handed out by Santa Claus, who was modelled on Saint Nicholas, the patron saint of schoolchildren. At the early-morning church service on Christmas Day, traces of earth could be seen in the pews where the dead had held their own service overnight.

After the service, people raced to get home first. The winner would harvest his crops before anyone else that year. On Boxing Day, you got up early to water the horses in streams running north, as Saint Stephen, the patron saint of horses, was said to have done.

In former times, boys often went round the farms carrying a paper star, singing songs in return for schnapps. Today, the star boys are a part of the Lucia celebration. Share with your friends. The National Day of Sweden. The crayfish party.