Traditions: Dutch Christmas Traditions
Oct 1st, 2008 by Admin
With its long coastlines and flowing rivers, the Netherlands has long been a country of sailors.
People are taught not to eat anything on Christmas Eve until a ceremonial dinner is served, in order to be able to see a “golden pig”.
Christmas traditions in the Netherlands revolve around the celebration of Saint Nicholas, which takes place on December 6th.
Sviata Vechera or “Holy Supper” is the central tradition of the Christmas Eve celebrations in Ukrainian homes.
Music is a strong tradition in many Dutch churches, where groups play for the congregation on Christmas Day.
We do not have any one particular Christmas dish, however, we usually bake the famous Dutch Christmas cookies known as a Christmas ring, called Kerstkrans Kerstkrans.
This is done to announce the coming of Christmas.
To say that the Dutch Christmas celebrations focus on the 6th of December is an anachronism and to say that children gather at the port in Amsterdam is an oversimplification.
The copyright of the article Christmas in The Netherlands in Dutch History is owned by Lorri Mealey.
The day is usually a fasting day; in some places children are told they’ll see a golden pig if they hold fast until dinner.
Christmas Eve is the most important day of Christmas.
For a lot of Norwegians, especially families, television is an important part of the earlier hours of Christmas Eve. While the Christmas decorations may have been put up since early November, the unofficial start of the Christmas festivities in Colombia takes place on December 7, D”a de las Velitas, or “Day of the Candles”, when at night the streets, sidewalks, balconies, porches and driveways are decorated with candles and paper lanterns, illuminating the city in a yellow glow, all in honor of the Immaculate Conception which takes place the next day December
On Christmas Eve After dinner some families go to Church to celebrate the Christmas Midnight Mass.
As in many other countries in northern Europe, the Jultomte brings the presents on Christmas Eve, the day generally thought of as Christmas, see Yule.
On the first day of Christmas, many carolers walk through the streets of the towns and villages, holding a star made of cardboard and paper on which are depicted various scenes from the Bible.
Christmas celebration in Singapore tends to be borrowed heavily from the American version with turkey dinner and decoration.
Commercialization and open markets are bringing a more secular celebration of Christmas to the public.
On Christmas Eve, presents are supposedly delivered in stockings and under the Christmas tree by Father Christmas, who previously had been something like The Ghost of Christmas Present in Charles Dickens ‘ A Christmas Carol, but has now become mainly conflated with Santa Claus.
Christmas in Ireland is the largest celebration of the year and lasts from 24 December to 6 January, although many may view 8 December as being the start of the season as it is the traditional Christmas shopping day in Ireland due to all schools being closed.
Family and friends also give each other gifts at Christmas.
‘Crackers’ ‘Crackers’ 
My ex-husband always took December 26 off so we also still had our second Christmas Day.
Then 25th of December is celebrated as the Christmas Day while 26th of December is celebrated as the New Year’s Day. It is appropriate to say ‘Eet smakelijk’ to all present at the dinner table, which translates to “enjoy your dinner”
Saint Nicholas or “Sinterklaas” as we Dutch call him, is known in America as Santa Claus
In the Netherlands, Dutch people celebrate Sinterklaas Avond or St.
Farmers in Holland blow long horns at sunset each evening during the Christmas period.
On Christmas itself, there are no presents.
December 26th is referred to as “Second Christmas Day,” and is a time for visiting family.
On Christmas Eve, after the kids have been tucked into beds, adults enjoy tea and speculaas .
Families go to church together on Christmas Eve and then again on Christmas morning.
In the eastern part of Holland, farm families announce the coming of Christmas from the first Sunday of Advent, which is the fourth Sunday before Christmas, until Christmas Eve by blowing a horn made from hollow elder-tree branches.
The celebration of Christmas was even banned by law in Massachusetts in colonial days.
.