Christmas in Great Britain



Christmas season starts with Advent that is the four Sundays before Christmas. Some German Christmas traditions even made it to Great Britain! Advent candles with 25 marks on them and Advent calendars with 24 or 25 doors are popular too. Nowadays there are quite a few Christmas markets too. In Great Britain writing Christmas cards is a very important tradition. In the Christmas season carol singing is very popular too. And there are lots of Christmas pantomimes on at the theatres. These funny plays usually retell a well-known fairy tale such as Cinderella.

Christmas Eve is exciting for the children because they believe Father Christmas or Santa Claus will come during the night (on a sleigh pulled by reindeers), enter the house through a chimney and eat a mince pie or other Christmas cookies and drink a glass of milk they have put on the table for him. He will then fill the Christmas stocking and put presents under the tree. All the presents are opened on Christmas morning on the 25th of December. There is usually a big Christmas dinner at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Traditional foods are roast turkey with gravy, Brussels sprouts, parsnips and other vegetables. The traditional desert is a kind of fruit cake which is called Christmas pudding. In many families it is also a tradition to watch the King's Christmas speech. After that it is party time with Christmas crackers, party hats and games.

December 26 is called Boxing Day. The name goes back to the tradition that presents for friends are put into boxes. Today many shops and supermarkets are open on that day, so people can spend their money on even more presents.