Christmas is a special time of the year, not only for the festive food, the Christmas gifts, and all the family and friends, but for the traditions. And if you still think that it’s strange why Santa sneaks into the house through the chimney to deliver the holiday gifts, you are probably living in quite a boring place. There are really bizarre, wacky, and downright absurd Christmas traditions and in this article we’ve gathered the 10 weirdest ones.
Special Christmas Menu: Fried Chicken
While traditionally the Christmas meal consists of a roast turkey, pork, or simply Christmas ham in most countries, the Japanese have the bizarre custom of eating a fried chicken, usually from KFC.
Teddy Bear Toss
This is a relatively new tradition at various hockey arenas across North America. Fans bring teddy bears to one of the matches and throw toss them onto the ice, when the home team scores the first goal. The toys are then gathered and donated to charities and hospitals.
Spiderweb Decoration
Spider web decoration sounds like a nice Halloween tradition, but in Ukraine, it’s used to decorate the Christmas tree! Well, people there don’t use actual spider web, but their stores are full of the spooky décor item.
Tying up Mom
People in the former Yugoslavia tie up the mother in the family to a chair and want her to give them presents to untie her. Well, maybe a vey few do that today, but still you may read about it on the web.
Scary Alpine Traditions
Apparently, the winter holidays are a little mixed up in the Alpine countries. Krampus, a terrifying mythical creature appears on Christmas to abduct bad children. His companion the witch called Frau Perchta is based off on the Pagan goddess of the harvest rewards good kids, but cuts open lazy children’s bellies and stuff them with straw. And in Austria, people would dress up as these two, singing songs, banging pots, and getting drunk.
Celebrating with… Decorated Horse Skull
Maybe there weren’t any decorations for sale in the past and people had to come up with various ideas to make Christmas more special. In Wales, for instance, the horse skull is fixed to a stick, decorated with sheets and ribbons, and then carried from house to house.
The Shoe Predicts Marriage
Single women in the Czech Republic turn their back to the front door and throw a shoe behind them. If it lands with the toes pointing towards the house, the girl will marry within a year.
The Festivus Pole
Festivus is a parody holiday festival in the U.S., celebrated by some people on December 23 as an alternative to the commercialized typical Christmas. The made-up holiday has an alternative to the evergreen Christmas tree – a metal Festivus Pole.
Sauna Fun with the Dead
Many nations have Christmas traditions which are observed to respect and remember the diseased relatives. But in Finland, they don’t simply respect them – they keep the sauna hot even in the night in case their dead grandpa or uncle stops by.
SantaCon
Enough with the horror traditions. There is a huge Santa gathering in New York City around Christmas. The SantaCon features thousands of Santas and elves and if you are looking for something to cheer you up, this will definitely work!
There are hundreds of other crazy holiday customs around the world, half of which were being used in the past to make kids behave by scaring them with hair-raising stories. Other traditions originate from the ancient, pagan years of Europe, when people perceived the winter as dangerous time of insecurity and hunger.
