Christmas traditions in Lapland, Mexico and Greece

Every day, the correspondents’ club describes how the same news story is illustrated in several countries. Friday, we’re taking a Christmas spirit world tour.

Where does this idea that Santa Claus lives in Finland come from? Why do the holidays last almost a month in Mexico? And if the tree is not the true symbol of Christmas in Greece, what are they? The correspondents’ club travels to these three countries to decipher their legends and traditions.

Lapland: the legend of Santa Claus

It all started on the radio, it was a Finnish journalist who spread this legend in 1927. Markus Rautio hosted a children’s show in which he told stories, it lasted until 1956, and every year, that of Santa Claus was essential.

The story says that an old man with a white beard with his sleigh pulled by reindeer and his elves friends would have settled in Korvatunturi, a hill, whose name means “The Mountain of the Ear” and which allowed the old man to hear the most discreet murmurs of children, carried by the north wind. And this is how the idea was imprinted in the minds of Finns that Santa Claus, Joulupukki, in Finnish, lived in Lapland.

Yet all the brochures invite tourists to go to Rovaniemi, to visit the “Santa Claus village”. Indeed its original home, Korvatunturi is a very small town, which is located very close, too close to the Russian border. So when the Finnish Tourist Office took up this story to promote the region, we were in the 80s, in the middle of the Cold War, we had to find a more peaceful but also more accessible location.

The Arctic is magnificent, but it’s far away, it’s very cold and you have to imagine attractive activities. So, it is the city of Rovaniemi, which was completely burned by the Nazis at the end of the war, then nicely rebuilt in the shape of a reindeer head, a large city of 60,000 inhabitants, which will be chosen to capitalize on this legend of Saint Nicholas.

Rovaniemi today attracts 200,000 visitors in December alone, 600,000 over the year, it is a concentrate of Nordic exoticism and Christmas magic, a little overrated, expensive, but which will undoubtedly delight children .

Mexico: the Guadalupe-Reyes marathon

In Mexico the celebrations begin well before Christmas, they extend for almost an entire month. It’s called the Guadalupe-Reyes marathon, from December 12 to January 6. The festivities begin with the day of the Virgin of Guadalupe, the patroness of Mexico and Latin America, which gives rise to a massive congregation of pilgrims in Mexico City.

At the same time, nine days before Christmas, these are the posadas which begin: vigils which are characterized by the staging of the wandering of Mary and Joseph who seek refuge before the birth of Jesus. Mexican children mime the scene, knocking on the doors of houses singing songs pastorelas, complaints to beg the inhabitants to offer them shelter. These are the posadas in their traditional, religious version, but at present, the entire period preceding Christmas is punctuated with meetings between friends and families which we call posadasa word that means “accommodation.”

And after Christmas and the New Year, Twelfth Day on January 6 ends this marathon of festivities and is an opportunity to give gifts to children. Until relatively recently, Mexicans did not exchange gifts at Christmas. And in more traditional families, this remains the rule. Now, the Santa Claus of American culture is gradually making a place in Mexican homes. But especially through the decorations. It is extremely important for Mexicans to put up grandiose decorations for Christmas, in addition to the traditional nativity scene. All the doors and balconies are covered in garlands, there are life-size Santas everywhere and people even decorate their cars with reindeer horns.

Greece: Agios Vassilis gives gifts to Saint Basil’s Day

The true symbol of Christmas for the Greeks is not the fir tree, but the boat and the pomegranate which symbolize Christmas. The boat because Greece is a country of sailors and it is a tribute to all those who, far from their families, work at sea. Houses and public squares are decorated with illuminated boats.

The pomegranate because it is synonymous with strength and abundance. This dates back to ancient times. It is on every table, it is one of the most frequent gifts at the moment, in the form of a trinket or jewelry, and tradition dictates that on December 25 and January 1, one throws one in front of one’s house so that the May the new year be prosperous.

In Greece the Christmas tree became widespread from the 1950s, as did New Year’s Eve. Greek Orthodox tradition dictates that we fast on the 24th. It is only on the 25th, after the 5:30 a.m. mass, that the bells ring throughout the country, that we sit down to eat.

On December 24 the children sing. They burst into the streets early with little musical triangles in their hands to go and sing from door to door in exchange for sweets or a coin: these are the Kalanda. The whole country resonates today to the rhythm of the Kalanda. The 31st is Saint Basil’s Day and Agios Vassilis, the Greek Santa Claus, gives them their presents in the evening. And after the king cake that we share at midnight sharp, the adults start playing cards all night long.