If your idea of Christmas is a roast, a tree and someone arguing about the crackers, a quick spin around the world might change your mind about how the holiday has to look. Some countries mark it with a witch on a broomstick; others with a bucket of fried chicken ordered weeks in advance.
Take Japan, where Christmas isn't even a public holiday but families still queue up — figuratively — for KFC. A 1974 marketing campaign dubbed 'Kentucky for Christmas' stuck so thoroughly that many households now order their Christmas chicken well ahead of the day. Dessert, meanwhile, isn't fruitcake but strawberry shortcake layered with whipped cream.
Italy stretches the season well past Boxing Day. Christmas Eve dinners vary by region — up to twelve fish-based dishes in the south, tortellini in broth up north — and then on the night of 5 January, La Befana arrives: a witch who flies in on a broom and leaves sweets for good children and coal (these days, sweet sugary coal) for the naughty ones.
Austria keeps the coal theme but swaps it for something far less friendly. On 5 December, Krampusnacht, a horned, long-tongued demon accompanies Saint Nicholas, scaring the misbehaving — and inspiring street parades called Krampuslauf, where people in elaborate furry, horned masks stalk Alpine towns.
Southern Hemisphere Christmases run on sunshine and seafood. Australians tuck into platters of shellfish, cold ham, salads and pavlova, then play backyard cricket or watch Santa arrive at the beach on an inflatable rescue boat from the local surf club. Boxing Day means cricket on the telly and the Sydney to Hobart yacht race. Over in Southern California, Surfing Santa is a genuine fixture: locals in full Santa suits paddle out at Manhattan, Hermosa and other beaches on Christmas morning, often in a mid-70s Fahrenheit heatwave.
Some traditions belong to the night. Peruvian Nochebuena holds the feast of turkey and arroz arabe until midnight on the 24th, when fireworks light up Lima and the party runs until dawn. Poland's Wigilia supper starts when the first star appears, built around twelve meatless dishes including pierogi — dumplings stuffed with potato and cottage cheese. Scotland saves its energy for Hogmanay: Edinburgh street parties run into the small hours, Auld Lang Syne rings out at midnight, and 'first-footing' holds that the first visitor after midnight — ideally a tall, dark-haired man bearing whisky, shortbread or coal — brings luck for the year.
Germany's Schrottwichteln, or 'junk Secret Santa', trades expensive presents for gloriously useless ones — the tackier, the better. And in Cornwall, England, the Christmas calendar includes Boxing Day sea dips for charity and a pub tradition known as the Cornish 'shout', where packed locals sing sea shanties and folk songs into the night.
The takeaway for travellers: Christmas isn't one thing. Time a trip around any of these and you'll eat, sing or surf your way into a festive season that looks nothing like home — and that's exactly the point.
