Ten overseas Christmas traditions Australia should adopt

What are our Christmas traditions here in Australia? Not just quirks of individual families, but collectively, as a nation?

We have Carols by Candlelight; visits from Santa; usually a boardies-clad Saint Nick going for a surf; cold prawns on a hot Christmas Day; the Boxing Day Test. These are all good traditions, but surely we could use a few more? In fact, maybe we could pinch one or two from overseas?

Some traditions won’t work here in Australia. The Finnish Christmas Day ritual of a long sauna with the family doesn’t sound great in the middle of summer. The Dutch tradition of Sinterklaas with his Zwarte Piet helper in full black-face is not something we want to import. And the Peruvian custom of Takanakuy, in which locals spend December 25 settling disputes with rounds of no-holds-barred fist-fighting is also something we can probably do without.

The following, however, are Christmas traditions we Australians could definitely adopt.

Krampus, Austria

Not so jolly: Krampus is a tradition in Austria.Credit: AP

You know what? My kids could use a little more fear around Christmas time. Right now they bask safe in the knowledge that Santa will drop noiselessly down a chimney we don’t even have and deliver sackfuls of presents no matter how they’ve been behaving.

In Austria though, things are different. They have Krampus, a horned devil-like creature who is basically the anti-Santa, and who roams through the streets every December 6 looking for bad children to either whip or kidnap. This is mostly done in fun, though it also seems semi-serious, and properly frightening.

And our kids need that, right?

Mass roller-skating, Venezuela

The coolest way to get to church on Christmas Eve in Venezuela. Credit: Getty Images

So, here’s the deal. On Christmas Eve in Venezuela, some residents are so keen to get to midnight mass that they strap on roller-skates and tear through the streets. Some of those skaters are dressed as Santa. This irreverent tradition has become so popular that entire roads have had to be blocked off to ensure skaters’ safety.

Surely I don’t even need to tell you why we Australians should adopt this tradition, or why we would. Midnight mass might not be as popular as it once was, but cruising around the city on skates on Christmas Eve sounds like a blast.

Little Christmas Eve, Norway

Risengrynsgrot, a Christmas Eve Eve treat in Norway.Credit: iStock

Does it ever feel as if Christmas Day comes and goes in the blink of an eye, that you barely get time to even enjoy it with all the food prep and cleaning and family dust-ups? Then you need to adopt the Norwegian tradition of “Little Christmas Eve”, or Christmas Eve Eve, if you will.

On December 23, many families in Norway have their own little rituals that they observe, from making decorations, to baking gingerbread, to eating a traditional hot rice pudding called risengrynsgrot. Sounds like a nice excuse to get everyone together and look forward to the big day.

‘Kurisumasu ni wa kentakkii’, Japan

Clever marketing has seen KFC become a Christmas tradition in Japan.Credit: Getty Images

By now, most people are probably aware that an incredibly effective ad campaign in Japan by American chicken peddler KFC – “Kurisumasu ni wa kentakkii!“, or “Kentucky for Christmas!” – has led to a long-standing custom in the Land of the Rising Sun of eating KFC on Christmas Day.

I’m not saying we should adopt this exact idea. What I am saying, however, is that we could be open to buying pre-made food to eat on the holidays if it’s affordable, both to lighten the load on the household cooks, and support local businesses (who aren’t giant American fast food chains).

Caganers, Catalonia

Caganers: kids love them.Credit: iStock

I’ve already imported this tradition to my house: up there on the mantelpiece, over what would be a fire if it was about 40 degrees cooler here, sits a small figurine of football star Lionel Messi, his FC Barcelona shorts pulled down to his ankles, in the act of doing a poo.

My Messi statue is a “caganer”, a tradition in Catalonia, in the north-east of Spain. A caganer is a figurine – usually dressed as a peasant, though also sometimes in the likeness of a celebrity – captured in the process of defecation, which is always placed somewhere within a Catalan nativity scene. The reason for this is up for debate, but honestly, who cares? My kids love this thing more than Santa.

Christmas pickle, US

Find the pickle, open your present first.Credit: iStock

There are many things I love about this American tradition of hiding a pickle-shaped ornament somewhere on your Christmas tree, though perhaps my favourite is that most Americans are convinced they imported the ritual from Germany, while more than 90 per cent of Germans have never even heard of it.

Anyway, here’s the dill – sorry, deal: you take the pickle ornament and you hang it somewhere on the Christmas tree. On Christmas morning, the first kid to find it gets to be the first to open a present. It’s a fun, harmless tradition, and it includes pickles, so I say bring it on.

Several weeks of feasting, Spain

Most of us are pretty used to eating until we explode on Christmas Day, which is great fun, but it’s also over far too quickly. Why not embrace the Spanish custom of rolling feasts that last well into the New Year: you’ve got a big dinner on Christmas Eve, another large lunch on Christmas Day, the same once again for New Year’s Eve and also New Year’s Day, and then you do it all again for Three Kings Day, which is a celebration of the Three Wise Men arriving in Bethlehem, on January 6.

Then you go on a diet.

Christmas pinatas, Mexico

Star-shaped pinatas are a popular part of Christmas in Mexico.Credit: Getty Images

As you would expect in a country that loves a colourful celebration, and has blended Catholic religious ceremonies with ancient rites, Christmas is a big deal in Mexico. There are feasts, festivals, parades, carols, nativity scenes and a series of celebrations known as Las Posadas, which take place from December 16 to 25 to symbolise the nine months of Mary’s pregnancy with Jesus.

These posadas usually include star-shaped pinatas, which are filled with chocolates and other sweets, just waiting to be cracked open. Do you ever feel like your Christmas is lacking a little in violence and lollies? Same.

Pohutukawa, New Zealand

Pohutukawa’s bright red blooms have seen it become the Kiwi version of a Christmas tree.Credit: iStock

Not only does this native New Zealand tree hold an important place in Maori folklore, but it’s also known across the country as the native Christmas tree, given its spectacular crimson blooms, which tend to come out in December.

How nice is that? Your country’s own Christmas tree.

You’ll often see pohutukawa blooms on Kiwi Christmas table settings, and featured on Christmas cards.

We could have our own, right? How about the bottlebrush, which are bright red, beautiful, native to Australia and flowering in summer? Give it a few years and we could even say we came up with the idea.