Winter Celebrations Around the World

Eid Al Adha Christmas

Hanukkah Kwanzaa Diwali

Boxing Day Las posadas Hogmanay

St. Nicholas Day St. Lucias Day

Lunar New Year Bodhi Day

Christmas

How do you celebrate Xmas? Does your family have any special traditions? How is Xmas celebrated in your home country?

Here are a couple of videos with some bizarre traditions from around the world:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6vIuSQPlzk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWUNQfjkwmg

Christmas at the White House, from NPR: http://www.npr.org/2013/12/07/249309185/white-house-invites-all-to-gather-around-a-holiday-tradition

Christmas shopping in the UK: http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/word-street/christmas

Diwali – Festival of lights

The five-day Hindu festival Diwali, honors the goddess of wealth, Lakshmi. Known as the festival of lights, the holiday is marked by lighting lamps, setting off fireworks, gathering with family and friends to eat good food, dance and exchange gifts. And it's about the triumph of light over darkness, good over evil.

Professor Narayanan tells us more about the festival:

http://www.npr.org/2012/11/13/165046185/diwali-celebrating-the-festival-of-lights

And a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrrW3rO51ak

KwanzaaKwanzaa is a week-long holiday that takes place between December

26th and January 1st. The holiday celebrates African culture ands history. The name Kwanzaa comes from the Swahili language and means “first fruits”.

Kwanzaa celebrates Nguzu Saba, which means "The Seven Principles of Blackness". Each of the seven days represents a different principle. The principles are unity, self-determination, working together, cooperating in business, building the nation, creativity, and faith.

http://www.history.com/topics/kwanzaa-history

HanukkahHanukkah is one of the most important celebrations in the Jewish

calendar. It means the Festival of Lights. It is an eight-day holiday that takes place each year in November or December. The festival is to celebrate a miracle that happened in the Second Temple in Jerusalem. A Syrian king took the temple from the Jews. In 164BC, a small group of people called the Maccabees revolted against the king and took back their temple. Their leader Judah Maccabee decided to cleanse the altar by burning olive oil in a special candle holder called a Menorah. They only had enough to burn for one day, yet miraculously, it burned for eight days and nights. Jewish elders declared an eight-day holiday to commemorate this miracle.

Boxing Day

Boxing Day in the United Kingdom is the day after Christmas Day and falls on December 26. Traditionally, it was a day when employers distributed money, food, cloth (material) or other valuable goods to their employees. In modern times, it is an important day for sporting events and the start of the post-Christmas sales. (http://britishfood.about.com/od/christmas/p/boxingday.htm)

A video with information: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jtg800BxBAg

Eid Al Adha

Eid Al Adha is celebrated by Muslims on the 10th day of the month of the lunar calendar (In 2008, it fell on December 8) to commemorate the willingness of the prophet Ibrahim (or Abraham) to sacrifice his son for God. Today, Muslims sacrifice an animal—usually a goat or a sheep—as a reminder of Ibrahim's obedience to God. The meat is shared with family, friends Muslims or non-Muslims, as well as the poor members of the community.

Hogmanay

Hogmanay is the Scots word for the last day of the year and is synonymous with the celebration of the New Year (Gregorian calendar) in the Scottish manner. However, it is normally only the start of a celebration that lasts through the night until the morning of New Year's Day (1 January) or, in some cases, 2 January—a Scottish Bank Holiday.

Some facts about the holiday: http://www.scotland.org/features/hogmanay-top-facts

St. Nicholas Day

Las Posadas

Lunar New Year

St. Lucias Day

Bodhi Day