Christmas traditions: How people across globe celebrate the festival

As Christmas is around the corner, people from all over the world are getting ready to celebrate the festivity. When we hear the word Christmas, we think of lovely gifts and Santa Claus. But what many people don't know is that people from different parts of the world celebrate Christmas differently. 

1. Japan

In Japan, people celebrate their Christmas by ordering a KFC meal. Yes, you heard it right, people in Japan like to order KFC's 'Christmas Chicken' bucket on December 24. In Japan, only one per cent of its population is estimated to be Christian but yet the KFC Christmas bucket is so popular that even non-Christians like to order the meal on the special day. The way of celebrating Christmas by eating KFC became popular after its 1974 campaign 'Kentucky for Christmas'.

2. Guatemala

People in Guatemala celebrate their Christmas by burning a devil figure that replaced the simple bonfire celebration from the colonial era. People in Guatemala nowadays celebrate Christmas by burning an effigy of a devil which is similar to the Dussehra celebrations in India. People decorate the effigy with firecrackers and en estimated 5,00,000 of them burn in the course of an hour on Christmas Day.  

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3. Sweden

In Sweden, people like to sit down with family and watch the 1958 Walt Disney TV special From All of Us to All of You. Known in Swedish as "Kalle Anka och hans vänner önskar God Jul", the title translates to "Donald Duck and His Friends Wish You a Merry Christmas." Every December 24, the show airs on Swedish main public television channel at around 3:00pm and the tradition has been continuing since 1959. 

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4. Ukraine

People in Ukraine like to celebrate their Christmas Day by decorating Christmas trees with spider webs. The legends believe that there was a poor single widowed single mother who couldn't afford to decorate her Christmas tree. One night a Christmas spider decorated the tree with the beautiful sparkly web. When the rays of sun touched the web it turned into silver and gold. Ukrainian people decorate their Christmas trees with spider webs to honour the tale. 

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5. Venezuela

In the Venezuelan capital of Caracas, people strap on their skates and roll on over to the morning Christmas mass followed by delicious food, good music and dance. Legends say that when children sleep the previous night a piece of string tied to their toes and the other end dangling out of the window. So when the skater glide through the city next morning it give the string a tight tug to wake up children. 

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