From Japan to Germany and Mexico to Sweden, people from different cultures celebrate the winter festivals season in their own unique way. As many of you prepare for your own winter festivals with friends and family, we at Language Connections would like to share a few traditions from around the world with you.
6 Winter Festivals Worldwide
1. Shogatsu – Japan | Winter Festivals
Shogatsu, also known as Oshogatsu or New Year’s, is considered the most important holiday in Japan. All duties are supposed to be completed by the end of the year, at which time bonenkai parties – or “year forgetting parties” – are held with the purpose of leaving the old year’s worries behind. Homes and entrance ways are decorated with ornaments made of pine, bamboo and plum trees.
On New Year’s Eve, toshikoshi soba (buckwheat noodles) are served as a symbol of longevity. A more recent custom is watching the popular music show “kohaku uta gassen” on Japanese television, where many of Japan’s most famous singers perform on New Year’s Eve.
2. Las Posadas – Mexico | Winter Festivals
Las Posadas celebrations, posada is the word for inn or shelter in Spanish, are an important part of Christmas festivities in Mexico. These celebrations represent Mary and Joseph’s search for a place to stay in Bethlehem.
They are held on each of the nine nights leading up to Christmas when a procession, led by Mary and Joseph, visits a different home each night to sing a special song. Those standing outside the house sing the part of Joseph asking for shelter and the family inside responds with the part of the innkeeper “there is no room at the inn”. The song switches back and forth a few times until finally the innkeeper decides to let them in, and everyone is allowed to enter.
3. Hogmanay – Scotland | Winter Festivals
Hogmanay is the Scots word for the last day of the year and is the biggest winter festival in Scotland. There are many theories about the origin of the word. Some believe it was derived from the Scandinavian word for the feast before Yule called Hoggo-nott, or the Flemish hoog min dag which literally means ‘great love day’, or the Gaelic oge maidne meaning ‘new morning’; but many believe it to be of French origin – in Normandy, presents given on the last day of the year were called hoguignetes. There are many customs associated with Hogmanay, the most widespread being “first-footing”, or being the first person to cross the threshold of a friend’s home. Another well-known custom is fireball swinging, typically practiced in Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire.
4. Bodhi Day – China | Winter Festivals
Bodhi Day is the Buddhist celebration of Budhha’s awakening or enlightenment. The holiday is celebrated on the 8th day of the 12th lunar month in China. Houses are typically decorated with pictures or statues of Buddha sitting under a fig tree to remember the day of his awakening. Decorations are colorful, symbolizing the many ways that enlightenment is attained. Candles and lights are first lit on this day, and kept burning for the next thirty days representing the period of Buddha’s enlightenment. People often decorate their homes with a small fiscus tree using beads on a string and colored lights, symbolizing unity and the three stages of Enlightenment, respectively.
5. St. Lucias Day – Sweden | Winter Festivals
St. Lucia’s Day in Sweden originally coincided with the winter solstice before the adoption of the new calendar. The shortest day of the year, her feast day became known as the Festival of Light, bringing light and hope to the darkest time of the year. Today each town elects its own St. Lucia who leads a procession of girls and boys dressed in white, with a lit crown of candles on each of the girls’ heads.
Custom has it that the eldest daughter in each family gets up first, and after dressing in a white robe, red sash, and a crown with nine lit candles, she wakes up the family singing “Santa Lucia” and offering a breakfast of coffee and saffron buns. This marks the start of the Christmas holidays.
6. Saint Nicolas Day – Germany | Winter Festivals
On the night of December 5th or 6th, in Catholic communities around Germany, a man representing St. Nicholas dressed as a bishop carrying a staff travels from house to house. Accompanying him are the Krampusse who threaten to punish children that have misbehaved. The Krampusse gently tease the children, while St. Nicholas hands out small gifts.
This tradition dates back to 1555, when St. Nicholas brought gifts on December 6th which was the only gift-giving time associated with Christmas during the Middle Ages. Today children put out their shoes to be filled with gifts from St. Nicolas in return for small tokens to help him on his journey.
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