Have you ever been curious about what are the strangest traditions around the world on Christmas? Here At Picaboxx, we have a list of some of the strangest celebrations we’ve found.
‘Tis the season to be roller-skating
Caracas is a beautiful city, with beautiful people, but one of the oddest Christmas traditions in South America. The streets in Venezuela’s capital are closed to roller skaters every year between 16 and 24 December for an early morning Christmas Mass. Although it is unclear where this tradition originated, because of the tropical climate in northern South America, it is thought to have been an alternative to sledging.
On the First Day of Christmas, My True Love Sent to Me… a Bucket of KFC???
Despite the fact that Christmas isn’t a national holiday in Japan, KFC saw a gap when foreigners were unable to find turkey there on Christmas Day and went for chicken instead. Today, approximately 3.6 million Japanese families enjoy Kentucky Fried Chicken for Christmas, in what has become a Christmas tradition throughout the nation.
Rudolph The Red Laced Drawer
Spaniards have one of the strangest traditions in the world. As part of Spain’s New Year’s Eve tradition, red underwear is worn, known as “Bragas Rojas” as a symbol of good luck for the year. La Font de la Figuera, a small town in Valencia, takes the tradition a step further with the tradition of running in only red underwear on New Year’s Eve. It also has the highest amount of pneumonia cases in Spain.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Thriller
In the British Isles, there are a lot of strange, sadistic winter traditions. While it may sound like something from Hamlet, Welsh villages have a tradition of carrying the skull of a mare during the Christmas season. Similarly, across the Irish Sea, in the Isle of Man and Ireland, the day after Christmas they celebrate Wren Day. This consists of hunting down a small bird and tying it to the top of a pole. Hunt the Wren would have traditionally involved young boys who would chase wrens until they caught them, or the bird died from exhaustion.
Last Christmas I Gave You My Pig
It would be a mistake to think America is out of the woods. The day is celebrated in Saratoga Springs, New York, by smashing a peppermint pig – not in that way Mr Cameron – with a hammer. Originally, the tradition was started by a local man named Jim Mangay in the 1880s. Sugar rationing nearly caused Peppermint Pigs to disappear during World War II, and it wasn’t until 1988 that a local candy maker brought them back. Peppermint pigs can still be smashed today by East Coast citizens, no matter how weird that may sound.
Want to stick to the worldwide Christmas tradition?
Most people around the world have the tradition of gift-giving. Even when you’re on your particular “Christmas visit tour”, it is customary to offer them a small present as a “thank you for hosting” gesture. If you are a more traditional Christmas celebrater and you want to engage in the tradition of gift-giving, why don’t you check out our Picaboxxes and Pouches? We have a brand-new Red Pouch that your Friends and Family will absolutely love.
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