Christmas and New Year bring magic all over the world, but some countries experience it in rather unusual ways. Discover the 10 most bizarre holiday customs that will take you on a journey around the world - from unusual traditions to strange holiday dishes! These are holiday customs around the world!
Christmas and New Year holidays they are a time of joy, socializing and giving gifts. But they exist all over the world habits, which are so unusual you'll have to read them twice to believe them! Which holiday customs around the world are the most unusual?
Japan: KFC for Christmas
The KFC Christmas meal includes chicken, cake and champagne, and is usually ordered months in advance. This unusual tradition began as a KFC marketing campaign in the 1970s and has become a symbol of the Western celebration of Christmas in a country where Christmas is not a traditional holiday.
Photo: unsplashNorway: Hiding the brooms
This custom comes from the ancient belief that evil spirits and witches are looking for brooms to fly on Christmas Eve. This is why Norwegians hide all their brooms in their homes to prevent witches from finding and using them.
Photo: unsplashVenezuela: To mass on roller skates
In Caracas, it is customary for entire families to go to mass on rollerblades on Christmas morning. The streets are closed to traffic to ensure safety and space for this unusual but joyful tradition.
Austria and Slovenia: The fear-inducing Krampus
Krampus is a demonic creature that visits children on the night before St. Nicholas. While St. Santa gives gifts to good children, Krampus scares those who have been naughty, wears chains and bells that sound scary in the dark winter nights.
Photo: unsplashItaly: The witch who brings gifts
La Befana is a friendly witch who visits Italian homes and leaves sweets for good children and charcoal for naughty ones. According to legend, she missed visiting the birth of Jesus and now visits the children every year to make up for her mistake.
Iceland: 13 Santas and gift books
The Icelandic Jólasveinar are basically gnomes who visit children during the 13 nights before Christmas, one each night. Gifts are usually left in shoes, which the children place on the windowsill. It is also a tradition to give books as gifts on Christmas Eve, accompanied by quiet reading by the fireplace.
Ukraine: Spider webs on the Christmas tree
Spider webs symbolize luck and prosperity. The legend tells of a poor widow who couldn't afford to decorate a tree for her children, but they woke up on Christmas morning to find the tree decorated with magical glowing spider webs.
Photo: envatoSpain: Silent night visit
'El Caganer' is a small, humorously designed figurine that is part of the Catalan Christmas nativity scene. Sitting in a corner with her rear exposed, this figure symbolizes fertility and happiness while adding a dash of humor to traditional holiday decor.
Greece: Evil dwarves called Kallikantzaroi
Kallikantzaroi are mischievous dwarves who come to the surface from the underground. According to popular belief, they tend to people and destroy property. Some believe that a pendant made of a lead cross or a fire in the fireplace can drive away these gnomes.
Guatemala: House Cleaning and the 'Quema del Diablo'
This cleansing ritual symbolizes the removal of evil and negativity from the past year. People collect garbage and waste from their homes and burn them along with devil figures to mark purification and preparation for the new year.
