With December and January being the peak of the holiday season, I’ve decided to investigate some ways that holidays are celebrated in different parts of the world.

We all know that here in America, many cultures and religions take part in celebrating the holidays. Some of the most popular holidays celebrated are the Christian holiday of Christmas, the Jewish holiday period of Hanukkah, as well as the African American culture holiday period known as Kwanzaa. With these religious holidays happening around the same time, most people also celebrate the new calendar year on December 31 to January 1.

According to internationalliving.com, Christmas is celebrated in many parts of the world due to Christianity being a popular religion, but the customs and tradition vary from country to country. For example, a popular Christmas tradition in Costa Rica is tamale-making. December in Costa Rica is considered the summertime which means the kids are out of school and allows for large family trips in which the whole family will take part in the tradition of tamale-making. In addition, Colombia celebrates the Christmas season with Little Candles Night. This is a festival from December 7^th to the 8^th where people gather to display lit candles and paper lanterns all over their houses. This tradition is celebrated as the start of the holiday season.

Some other Holiday customs include The Pase del Niño Parade in Ecuador to celebrate a three-month long holiday season from Christmas Eve to March, Three Kings Day in Mexico to celebrate Christmas Eve, and The Burning of Effigies in Panama to celebrate the New Year. People gather to burn effigies (a sculpture or model of a person) to symbolize letting go of the past to embrace the New Year.

The Holidays are a special time of the year for everyone across the world and celebrated in many cultural and unique ways. How do you celebrate the holidays?

Picture Credits:

https://tse1.mm.bing.net/th/id/OIP.M2oHWPjyXoJAAVGCSNL9UAHaDL?w=330&h=150&c=7&r=0&o=5&pid=1.7