No matter where you live, the holidays are a time of celebration and traditions. Let's dive in to some of the most famous traditions from around the world. 

Ukrainian Spider Tradition:

According to passed-down stories, this tradition originated from the tale of a single mother living in a cold small house. She had several kids who one day started to see a beautiful tree growing outside of their tiny home. The kids, being clueless about the family's financial situation, thought it would be such a lovely idea to decorate the tree, but the poor mother knew she couldn’t afford to get any decorations. That night, the distraught children cried themselves to sleep. The spiders in the deep corners of the home heard the cries and wanted to surprise the children. When the kids were sleeping, the spiders decorated the tree with the most detailed and intricate webs. In the morning, the children were so delighted to see how beautiful the tree looked and were in for a bigger surprise when they saw the sun rays making their way up the tree to each web. The sun rays on the webs started to turn into a beautiful silver and gold color, which made the family so incredibly overjoyed. Now, this Ukrainian tradition is celebrated with decorations of fake spider webs, which are neatly placed on the Christmas trees. Having some sort of spider, real or fake, on your tree is supposed to be a sign of good luck or destiny for the new year to come. 

Hiding Brooms in Norway:

In multiple Nordic regions, including Norway, witches and mischievous spirits are said to roam in December's dark and cold months. They are especially considered active, on Christmas Eve night. It is common to hide your brooms and mops from these witches, to prevent them from stealing your broom in the middle of the night, to go on a nightly fly around town. Some say the witches take the brooms to make their nightly strolls more convenient.  When hiding the cleaning equipment, you must hide them in the safest places possible, not somewhere a witch or spirit could find easily.

German Christmas Pickle:

The tradition of the Christmas pickle starts with an ornament in the shape of a shiny pickle, which gets hidden somewhere inside your Christmas tree. The first person or child to find the pickle gets many privileges on Christmas morning. First, they get to open the first gift of the morning, which leads to a free privilege of bragging rights until the next Christmas morning, the following year. Sometimes, the lucky Christmas pickle champion gets a special holiday treat as their reward, as well. It is clear that this tradition comes from a strong German descent because the Christmas pickle also originated from the German word Weihnachtsgurke. This tradition is popular in Germany, but also in the Midwest, especially Michigan, since a high number of German immigrants live there. There are three legends that could have potentially been the start of the tradition. First, legend has it that a German-American soldier was imprisoned during the Civil War and begged for a pickle before he was going to die. The legend claims the pickle gave him strength to survive and carry on his fighting. Secondly, another legend claims two Spanish boys were traveling home from boarding school one day when they stopped at an inn. They were held captive in a pickle barrel, and later Saint Nicholas found them and freed them. Some say, the boys were never freed and instead murdered, with their bodies hidden in the barrels. Finally, the third tradition states that a German glassblower was making ornaments shaped like fruits, nuts, and ultimately pickles! F.W. Woolworth Company imported the pickles and that’s how they became popular.

Greece Christmas Boats Tradition:

The Christmas boat tradition, otherwise known as Karavaki, is a famous tradition in the Greece area. Instead of decorating Christmas trees each year, boats are decorated with beautiful lights, making the waterways shine. This tradition is very special because it represents the connection of Greece and the surrounding seas. Saint Nicholas is actually the patron saint of sailors, so the decorating of the boats is a thank you to Saint Nicholas for protecting all the people working away at sea. This is a very meaningful tradition because it was a sign of people longing for family members who couldn’t be home for Christmas, since they were busy working out at sea. Some believe that the lights are supposed to show the way back home to all the sailors and even migrants in other countries. 

La Befana in Italy:

This Italian tradition takes place the night before the Epiphany, a Christian holiday that commemorates the three wise men, visiting baby Jesus in Bethlehem. On January 5, a folk-like figure of an elderly woman, almost like a witch, rode a broom through Italy. She is known to bring good children gifts, reminding kids who are naughty of their bad behavior. Similar to American traditions, the kids in Italy hang stockings by the fireplace or even by their bed, hoping to wake up with a stocking full of treats and small gifts. This holiday marks the end of the Christmas season, for many Christian believers, making this tradition very special. How the story goes is that the three wise men were heading to find baby Jesus, but needed to stop and ask a woman for directions. After she helped them she was asked to join the amazing trip to see a savior, but she was busy cleaning with a broom, so she declined. Later, she regretted her decision and tried to catch up with them, probably on her broom. To this day, she is now wandering Earth searching for Jesus and leaving gifts to children, hoping one of them is Jesus himself. 

German Krampusnacht:

On the night before the celebration of the Feast of Saint Nicholas, people all through Germany dress up as the devil, Krampus. They go around the streets and chase naughty children, screaming at them and handing them a pile of twigs as a punishment. These twigs are a remembrance of Krampus and if you are seen with twigs, you’re assumed to be a naughty child. The devil Krampus is celebrated on this night, which is very strange for our usual Christmas traditions. Krampus is a half-man and half-goat character, who is hairy and has large horns, goat hooves, fangs, and blood-red eyes. He is sometimes depicted with chains around his neck, too. People in this culture say he carries twigs, or ruten, to swat misbehaving children. Bad kids have to deal with Krampus, who takes away their Christmas presents and replaces them with twigs and coal. The good kids get gifts from Saint Nicholas. This tradition is very popular in Germany, Austria, Croatia, several European countries, and also some parts of Australia.

Venezuelan Roller Skating:

In Venuelza, Las Patanas, or skating is a huge religious celebration. On the nine nights before Christmas, a mini festival occurs, filled with skating and singing of religious Christmas carols. Because this tradition is tied to the Catholic faith, only aguinaldos, or religious songs are sung. This all-night skating party leads to a skate to mass at dawn. This mass is known as the Misa de Gallo, or the Cockerels Mass, which takes place at about five or six in the morning. This tradition brings people together and represents the true meaning of Christmas.

Philippine Lantern Tradition:

The famous lanterns in the Philippines are so special that they are put out in September. They are in the shape of a parol, which is the Filipino Christmas symbol, which holds tons of cultural meaning. While written history says this tradition sparked from the first creation of a parol in 1908, oral tradition says the parol goes back to early Christianity. These lanterns are supposed to light the way to church for a very early Christmas mass. The symbol, a parol, is a 5-pointed star, made out of bamboo with decorative tails wrapped in Japanese paper, lit up from the inside. It makes sense that parol ultimately means light or lantern, from the traditions. This annual lantern festival is the start of a 9-day liturgical celebration before Christmas begins. The star also symbolizes the same star that led the three kings to Jesus in Christian culture.

Yule Lads in Iceland:

On the thirteen nights before Christmas, kids leave their shoes by their windows, hoping to receive candy from the thirteen famous Yule Lads, or troll-like characters. If any kids are very bad that year, they get a rotten potato, instead of treats. The lads are the sons of Gryla, a famous lad.  The lads are seen as being very sneaky, but also loving and gift-giving. Back in the day, they were seen as menaces and selfish people. They still now show a small amount of sneakiness, when they expect to receive a “ laufabraud” or piece of leaf bread, by the children's shoes. This crispy flatbread-like treat is one of their favorites.

KFC in Japan:

A group of tourists in the 70s realized a turkey was almost impossible to find in Japan, so they settled with fried chicken for Christmas. KFC saw this as an opportunity for more sales and started serving chicken dinner on Christmas, using the slogan “Kentucky for Christmas”. To this say KFC is extremely busy in all of Japan, on Christmas and the whole month of December. Japanese occupants have to prepare their Christmas meals months in advance because of the scale of popularity, also making the meals around forty dollars. Because of the amount of Tv commercials and the slogan spreading throughout the world, KFC in Japan is seen as a cool part of their Christmas culture.

Las Posados in Mexico:

On the nights of December 16th to the 24th, Mexican cultures celebrate Las Posadas and replay the actions of Joseph and Mary, on their journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Normally a small child dresses up as an angel and leads a huge procession of children in silver and gold robes. These children are carrying beautiful candles and pictures of Mary and Joseph on the donkey they rode on their journey. Every so often, religious Christmas carols and scriptures are sung/read on the streets. Kids also stop at homes, asking for a spot in the inn, but just like the scriptures, they are sadly rejected. The day following this celebration, a mass is held and a pinata full of candy, toys, and money is broken by children. The pinata has to be in the shape of a star, representing the star the wise men used to get to baby Jesus.