Christmas Traditions In The Southern Hemisphere
The heat of early summer in Australia impacts how Australians as well as countries in Southern Hemisphere celebrate Christmas. Since the seasons are reversed to ours in the United States, some traditions are similar and some are unique. Read to discover how the holiday season is celebrated in the Southern Hemisphere.
In the weeks leading up to Christmas houses are decorated; greetings cards sent out; carols sung; Christmas trees installed in homes, schools and public places; and children delight in anticipating a visit from Santa Claus. On Christmas Day family and friends gather to exchange gifts and enjoy special Christmas food.
Many Australians spend Christmas out of doors, going to the beach for the day, or heading to camping grounds for a longer break over the Christmas holiday period. It has become traditional for international visitors who are in Sydney at Christmas time to go to Bondi Beach where up to 40,000 people visit on Christmas Day.
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Christmas plants
There are many native Australian plants in flower over the Christmas season. When Europeans first arrived in Australia they were delighted that they could pick wildflowers resembling bells and bright green foliage covered in red or white flowers to use as Christmas decorations. This was a huge contrast to the bare trees and dormant gardens they had left behind in Europe. . A number of these have become known as ‘Christmas plants’ in various parts of the country, including Christmas bells, Christmas bush and the Christmas orchid.
Food
Christmas in Australia comes at the beginning of summer and many people no longer serve a traditional hot roast dinner. Cold turkey and ham, seafood and salads are often served instead. It has even become acceptable to serve the traditional Christmas plum pudding with cold custard, ice cream or cream. Pavlova, a meringue base topped with whipped cream and fresh fruit, and various versions of the festive ice-cream pudding have also become popular Christmas desserts.
Major sporting events
The Christmas break is an opportunity for sports fans to enjoy two major sporting events. The 26 December is the opening day of the ‘Boxing Day Test’ between the Australian Cricket Team and an international touring side at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. This has been well attended since the first match in 1950, and watched by many others on television. In Sydney one of the world’s most prestigious ocean races, the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, starts on Boxing Day from Sydney Harbour.
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Dreamtime stories obviously do not include Christmas. However, this date in the calendar coincides with other seasonal changes. In Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Yolngu Aboriginal people will observe the last season of their six-season cycle. Gudjewg, the wet season, begins in late December.
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Other celebrations
Although Christmas is a widely recognized holiday worldwide, there are other major festivals which occur around the same time: the Jewish people commemorate Hanukkah, Muslims observe Ramadan, African Americans celebrate Kwanzaa, and the festival of Ta Chiu is held in Hong Kong.
Hanukkah
In the Jewish religious calendar, the festival Hanukkah (the Hebrew word for ‘dedication’) commences on the 25th of Kislev, and continues for eight days. It is also referred to as the ‘Festival of Lights’ and celebrates a victory by a small Jewish army over the Greeks in the second century BC.
During Hanukkah, children play with a dreidel (‘spinning top’), and also receive gifts of ‘Hanukkah money’. Special feasts for the children and competitions for youths are arranged. In countries where Christmas is celebrated, Hanukkah, particularly among Reform Jews, has assumed a similar form.
Ramadan
The Islamic month of Ramadan sees Australia’s significant population of Muslims observe traditional Ramadan practices including fasting daily from dawn to sunset. Ramadan is important for Muslims because it is believed to be the month in which the first verses of the Koran (the divine scripture) were revealed by Allah (God) to the prophet Muhammad. The Islamic calendar is only 354 days long, so Ramadan moves forward in relation to the Gregorian (Western) calendar.
Ta Chiu
Ta Chiu is a Taoist festival of peace and renewal that takes place on 27 December in Hong Kong. The participants summon all of their gods and ghosts so that the gods’ collective power will renew their lives. At the end of the festival, priests read aloud the names of every person who lives in the area. Then they attach the list of names to a paper horse and set it aflame, letting the names rise to heaven.
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