Every country has different traditions for Christmas, even though there are still many similarities. In Brazil, for example, we still celebrate the famous Santa Claus (even though it is summer, and we don’t understand why he wears those clothes), and decorate Christmas trees, they might be plastic, but they look the same.
However, we have some differences that I found were different from the countries I’ve been to. Next time you are in Brazil, or celebrating Christmas with Brazilians in your country, you can remember these traditions.
Date
First is the date in which we celebrate everything. Unlike the United States and other countries, we actually celebrate Christmas mainly on the evening of the 24th. We have dinner with family and usually exchange gifts then. Some families wait to do all of that only after night, but it really depends.
The 25th is a national holiday and most people spend it by going to mass early in the morning and then having lunch with their families to eat the leftover food.
Food
Since we have many influences in our culture, the food for Christmas dinner could not be any different. The main dishes of the meal are turkey, Chester (which is a small bird very similar to the chicken) and ham. Along with them, we may include farofa (typical Brazilian dish with manioc flour), salpicão (chicken salad), rice with raisins and potato salad. Some families may also include a dish with cod fish, which is traditional in Portugal.
For the dessert, one of the most famous is Panetone. Although it is Italian, it has dominated the Christmas season here for decades. Its traditional version is bread baked with crystallized fruits, but many new flavors were developed in recent years and the most popular has become the one filled with chocolate and called Chocotone. Every year they take over the shelves in the supermarkets and are a sign that Christmas season is fast approaching.
The other two desserts that are common around this time of year are rabanada (which is essentially French toast) and pave (a layered cake made with ladyfinger biscuits and chocolate).
Secret Santa
Amigo Oculto (or sometimes called “amigo secreto”) is what we call Secret Santa. This has become increasingly popular, especially among friends and sometimes even coworkers. It is not uncommon to have someone in a group say “let’s do Secret Santa this year” in the beginning of December. Some families may also choose to adopt this method of gifting if there are too many people to gift.
The game is to draw a name of one person from the group and together they set an average price for the gifts to make it fair. On the day, we usually start describing the person we drew for everyone else to guess.
Some groups may also choose to have a specific type of gift for everyone. For example, it is common to see Secret Santa with only Havaianas sandals.
Family
Christmas is very family oriented here in Brazil. Most people spend it with their entire families, including cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents and anyone else who might be related. It is not uncommon to see huge family trips taking place around this time of year too, to a rented house by the beach, for example.
Decorations
Christmas decorations are a common in Brazil too. As I mentioned in the beginning, we do put Christmas trees, but they are always plastic because we don’t have those forests here. In the houses it is also common to see little Santa Claus figurines, lights hanging on the balcony of apartments and the nativity scene.
Public spaces also decorate a lot for Christmas. Shopping malls, supermarkets, stores, and any other location you can think of usually has some kind of decoration. Local governments also make an effort, such as putting up Christmas trees in prominent locations or even putting colorful LED lights around buses, such as is the case in São Paulo.
Music
Christmas music is not as popular in Brazil. There are versions of famous international songs that were recorded in Portuguese, but nothing like it is in the United States, for example. We don’t have radio stations dedicated to holiday music or artists recording those songs every year.
Recently, though, the international songs have started to permeate a little more due to social media and film influence. They may be playing as background music in some public locations, although it is still not an overwhelming presence.
Christmas in Brazil is very popular, especially because the majority of the country is Christian. The pop culture aspect, such as music and films, however, is not as overwhelming as it is in countries in the Northern Hemisphere. Maybe because it is right in the beginning of the summer and there is so much content related to that.
Anyways, those are our traditions for celebrating Christmas. Did I leave anything out? Let me know in the comments.
Até logo!