Holiday Traditions-Old and New | Deezer Community, bringing music lovers together

Christmas traditions vary widely across cultures and time periods, but many old or traditional customs have persisted through the centuries. Here are some Christmas traditions from various parts of the world and from earlier times that have stood the test of time.

Old traditions

France : Yule Log (Yule)

The Yule log was a large piece of wood that families would burn on Christmas Eve to symbolize warmth, light, and the sun’s return. The tradition often included saving a piece of the log to burn in the following year’s fire, symbolizing continuity and good luck.

England : Christmas Caroling

The tradition of caroling began as a secular activity, where people would sing songs during the Christmas season to spread cheer and ask for food or drink in return. Over time, caroling became associated with Christmas hymns and religious songs, a practice that was especially popular in Victorian England.

Germany : Advent Calendar

The Advent calendar has roots in the Germanic countries, where children would mark the days of Advent (the four weeks leading up to Christmas) with a simple picture or scripture verse. The modern version, which includes a small gift or chocolate for each day, became popular in the 20th century. Check out our Advent Calendar Playlist to accompany your holiday countdown!

Brazil : Raisins in all dishes

The relationship of raisins with Christmas celebrations is also old, since they were guaranteed presence in the festivities that celebrated the beginning of winter in the Northern Hemisphere. From pagan roots, these parties were responsible for giving rise to the Christmas celebration as we know it today.

Mexico: Piñata

We break the piñata during Christmas (blindfolded). The 7 points (peaks) represent the seven deadly sins (lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride). The stick used to break the piñata represents the force used to break the false beliefs. The blindfold is the faith we have to believe without seeing. The brilliant colours represent the temptations. And the contents, which can be candy, fruit or presents, represent the grace and the love of God.

New traditions

“Friendsmas”

Gathering up with friends to have a separate “xmas” with them before you all travel to meet with family.These new traditions allow for creativity and flexibility, and they can be adapted to suit any family or group’s preferences. Whether you’re looking to bring more meaning to your holidays or just create new ways to have fun, there’s no limit to the kinds of traditions you can create!

Christmas Charity
In lieu of receiving gifts or to complement them, each family member or group of friends could pick a charity or cause to donate to. Alternatively, have a "Christmas Challenge" where everyone tries to complete a certain number of acts of kindness or volunteer hours leading up to Christmas. This could include helping at food banks, donating clothes, or doing anonymous good deeds.

Gingerbread House Decorating Contest
Make a tradition of gathering for a gingerbread house decorating contest each year. Everyone gets a kit, or you can bake your own gingerbread pieces, and then decorate the houses with icing, candy, and other fun materials.

"Experience Gifts" Tradition
Instead of giving physical presents, focus on giving experiences. This could be a ticket to a concert,
a day out at a theme park, cooking classes, or even a staycation in your own city. These experiences can be enjoyed together and often create more lasting memories than physical gifts.

"Virtual Global Christmas Party"

If you have friends or family who live far away, host a virtual holiday gathering where everyone logs in to share their holiday traditions, show off decorations, or enjoy a holiday meal together online. If you are travelling - make use of our premium feature for offline listening during your long journey (airplane mode for example).

To make your Christmas celebrations even more special, don’t forget to check out Christmas Flow. This playlist brings together a mix of festive favourites and new holiday hits to keep your celebrations going. And if you’re in the mood for even more Christmas tunes, explore Xmas Channel for an great selection of holiday music to fill your home with cheer.

What are your Christmas traditions, old or new? We’d love to hear about them!

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CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS IN CROATIA

Four weeks before Christmas, preparations for this holiday begin. It is the time of advent or arrival. Advent wreaths are made and Advent markets begin.

St. Nicholas Day is celebrated on December 6. St. Nicholas brings presents to children. Traditionally, children clean their boots the night before St. Nicholas. St. Nicholas then leaves them a present if they have been good, or a whip if they have not been good.

On December 13, the feast of St. Lucy, wheat is sown.

On Christmas Eve, the wheat is flattened, decorated with ribbons, candles are placed and placed on the table, and it remains like this until Epiphany.

Oh @Nina Nebo I didn’t know that you also have St.Nicholas in Croatia.

In The Netherland we also have St. Nicholas, we call him Sint Nicolaas or Sinterklaas. He arrives around the middle of November and his birthday is December 6th. And the same as in Croatie, the children get presents.

Sinterklaas has his assistents, the Pieten.

From the time Sinterklaas has arrived in our country, the children can put their shoes near the chimney or at the door. In those shoes they can put carrots for the horse of Sinterklaas and Sinterklaas leaves them small presents. And on December 5th Sinterklaas visits every house and gives the children (bigger or more) presents.

And if you don’t behave Sinterklaas will take you away to Spain (so the story goes) when he leaves for Spain on December 6th.

Sinterklaas has been around for more that hundred years in The Netherlands.

Christmas has also been around for hunderd years, but because of the American influences around Christmas, we also got to know Santa Claus in the Netherlands.

Now Sinterklaas will always remain a children's party and Christmas for both children and adults.

A few photos from here in our street:

And yes, Oud en Nieuw (Old and New):

Our tradition around Old & New:

During New Years Eve we eat a lot of oliebollen, appelbeignets and appelflappen (doughnuts, apple fritters and apple turnovers).

And when it’s 12 o’clock it’s time to light up fireworks!

People everywhere are lighting up their fireworks in the streets.

This last thing is for some fun, for some terrible. In my opinion: let’s get rid of this and leave it as a public fireworks show somewhere in the city.

More details:

Christmas in Portugal is all about family, food, and fun traditions.

On Christmas Eve, everyone gathers for Consoada, a big dinner with bacalhau and desserts like Bolo Rei and rabanadas.

After dinner, many go to Midnight Mass (Missa do Galo) and then set up the Nativity scene with baby Jesus.