Christmas customs reflect local climate, history, religion and folklore rather than a single worldwide template. A Christmas Eve sauna in Finland, a summer barbecue in Australia, a twelve-course meal in Ukraine and a KFC dinner in Japan can all belong to the season’s varied cultural landscape. The examples below are associated with particular places or communities, not rules followed by every resident.
Professor Carole Cusack of the University of Sydney aptly writes that “the celebration of Christmas has distinct variations around the world” (December 18, 2017). Each tradition is presented with that variation in mind.
A quick map of the 12 traditions
| Place or community | Tradition | Primary lens |
|---|---|---|
| Norway | Porridge for the Fjøsnisse | Folklore and food |
| Bergen, Norway | A town made of gingerbread | Community making |
| Finland | Christmas Eve sauna | Seasonal ritual |
| Sweden and neighboring Nordic countries | St. Lucia celebrations | Light and music |
| Mexico and the United States | The poinsettia’s holiday journey | Plant history |
| Australia | Christmas in summer | Climate and outdoor life |
| Ukraine | A twelve-course Christmas Eve feast | Food and worship |
| Japan | KFC as a modern Christmas meal | Popular culture and food |
| Poland | Carp, scales and Christmas dinner | Food and luck |
| Italy | Befana, the gift-bringing folkloric figure | Folklore and gifts |
| Greece | Kallikantzeri during the twelve days | Folklore and calendars |
| South Korea | Cake, church and a Korean Christmas meal | Food and religious life |
Norway: leave porridge for the Fjøsnisse
In a Norwegian tradition described by Visit Norway, a bowl of rice porridge called nissegrøt is taken to the barn on Christmas Eve for the Fjøsnisse. This barn figure belongs to Norway’s folklore, where older seasonal stories coexist with Christian Christmas observance.
Visit Norway also explains that jul, the Norwegian word for Christmas, is connected to the Old Norse jól. The porridge is therefore more than a menu item: it is a small household act that links the holiday to a pre-Christian seasonal vocabulary.
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Bergen, Norway: build a gingerbread town
Every year since Christmas 1991, according to Visit Norway, schools, kindergartens, businesses and residents in Bergen have helped create a large gingerbread town. The attraction turns baking into a public, collaborative display rather than a private family project.
Its importance is the shared construction: different groups contribute individual buildings and pieces to a temporary miniature city. It shows how Christmas activity can be organized around making and visiting something together.
Finland: take a sauna on Christmas Eve
HISTORY reports that many Finns visit a sauna on Christmas Eve. The practice places warmth, washing and quiet preparation at the center of the holiday, a particularly resonant ritual in a country where winter darkness and cold shape daily life.
“Many” does not mean every Finnish household follows the custom. Families and regions differ, and a sauna visit sits alongside other religious, family and seasonal observances.
Sweden and neighboring Nordic countries: honor St. Lucia
St. Lucia is honored on December 13 in Scandinavian countries. HISTORY describes celebrations featuring candlelight, a white gown and a crown, with the observance spreading from Sweden to Denmark and Finland by the mid-19th century.
Contemporary presentations vary by school, church and community. The recurring idea is a procession or gathering built around light, song and a winter date, rather than one universal costume or ceremony.
Mexico and the United States: how the poinsettia became a Christmas symbol
The poinsettia’s Christmas connection is a story of botanical exchange and commercial adoption. HISTORY reports that Joel R. Poinsett brought the red-and-green plant from Mexico to the United States in 1828, and that New York stores were selling it at Christmas by 1870.
This account explains the plant’s rise as a holiday decoration in the United States; it should not be mistaken for evidence that every Mexican family treats the poinsettia as a Christmas ritual. The plant’s colors and winter-season marketing helped make it a widely recognized symbol.
Australia: celebrate Christmas in the middle of summer
Christmas arrives during Australia’s summer. HISTORY describes beach time, outdoor barbecues and family gatherings, with meals that may include ham, turkey, pork or seafood.
The result is a seasonal setting unlike the snow-and-fireplace imagery common in Northern Hemisphere media: people may spend part of the day outside, and a festive meal can be planned around warm weather. Australian households still vary widely in food, faith and activities.
Ukraine: wait for the evening star, then serve a twelve-course feast
HISTORY and National Geographic both describe a Ukrainian Christmas Eve meal with twelve courses. In the account from HISTORY, the appearance of the evening star signals that the feast may begin.
The number twelve and the waiting period give the meal a structured, ceremonial character. It is best understood as a described traditional pattern associated with Ukrainian Christmas Eve, not a requirement followed by every Ukrainian household today.
Japan: a popular modern KFC Christmas custom
National Geographic reports that visiting KFC for Christmas dinner is common for some Japanese families. The custom is a modern example of a commercial meal becoming part of seasonal popular culture in a country where Christmas is not a national religious observance for the majority.
National Geographic does not establish a proportion of families who participate, so “common” should not be read as universal. Other households choose home cooking, restaurants or no Christmas celebration at all.
Poland: carp, bathtub stories and lucky scales
National Geographic describes carp appearing at some Polish Christmas dinners. Its overview also recounts the custom of keeping the fish in a family bathtub before the meal and saving carp scales for luck.
These details are colorful elements of a reported tradition, not a national rule. Polish Christmas tables differ by region, family and religious practice, and the bathtub-and-scales story should be treated as an associated custom rather than a description of everyone’s dinner.
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Italy: Befana brings gifts after Christmas
In Italian Christmas folklore described by National Geographic, Befana is a witch-like figure who brings gifts to good children. Her story extends the gift-bringing season beyond the central Christmas date and gives Italy a folkloric counterpart to better-known holiday figures.
Befana belongs to local and family storytelling traditions. Not every Italian community observes her in the same way, and the account is folklore rather than a claim about a single national ceremony.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Greece: tell stories of the kallikantzeri
HISTORY says many people in Greece believe that mischievous goblins called kallikantzeri appear during the twelve days of Christmas. The same overview notes that gifts are usually exchanged on January 1, St. Basil’s Day, in the tradition it describes.
The goblins belong to seasonal folklore, while the January 1 gift date reflects the importance of St. Basil in Greek observance. Belief and practice vary among families and communities; “many people” is not a claim that all Greeks share the same view.
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South Korea: cake, church services and a Korean Christmas meal
Carole Cusack, Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Sydney, describes South Korean Christmas celebrations that may include sponge cake with cream or ice-cream cake. Her account also mentions meals featuring noodles, beef bulgogi and kimchi, along with church services and caroling.
These combinations show how a globally recognized holiday can be expressed through local foods and established religious communities. Cusack’s 2017 article is an overview, not a nationwide survey, so the examples should be read as practices found in South Korea rather than a fixed menu for every household.
What these traditions have in common
Across the twelve examples, Christmas customs tend to gather around five elements:
- Climate and season: Australia’s outdoor summer celebrations contrast with Nordic winter rituals such as sauna, candlelight and barn porridge.
- Food: Ukraine’s twelve courses, Polish carp, Japanese fried chicken and South Korean cake show how meals carry local identity.
- Folklore: The Fjøsnisse, Befana and kallikantzeri connect Christmas to stories that are older, regional or both.
- Worship and sacred calendars: St. Lucia observances, Ukrainian evening-star traditions, Greek St. Basil’s Day and Korean church services place the season in different religious calendars.
- Community activity: Bergen’s gingerbread town turns participation into a city-scale project, while processions and caroling bring people together in other places.
National Geographic’s overview emphasizes that Christmas is celebrated even in places with relatively few Christians, helping explain why local customs can be religious, secular, commercial, folkloric or a mixture. None of these examples should be used as a shortcut for describing an entire country: within-country differences are part of the story.
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To explore the geographic spread, mark all twelve places on a world map and add one note for each tradition’s main lens—food, folklore, climate, worship, light or community. National Geographic Kids presents a similar “Christmas map of the world” activity for pupils. The exercise makes the contrasts visible without suggesting that one custom represents every person in a country.
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