NationStates Jolt Archive

The cultures of the Real World have many interesting ways of celebrating their winter holidays.

What are the Christmas or other winter festival traditions in your nation?

Post away!

it's summer like it is for my RL Nation so my poeple swim if they get any weeks worth of R@R off as i not made any holidays up,just my own copy of ANZAC Day so far

Well, my nation is essentially christian so yea, christmas is celebrated.
Well, It's NewChristian, which is basically the Fictions branch of Christianity.

But the idea of santa never caught on, so it's got ALOT more to do with actual religion and the idea of remembering the birth of Christ. Presents are given but not because of some fat guy. Presents are given because of the presents that were given to Jesus.
Generally people spend Christmas with their family.
On another level however there is christmas mass and a military parade on that day although attendance is not compulsory (I love military parades in RL so my nation has alot of them)
There is also a huge fireworks display.
Lights are used for decoration but as I said Christmas is a more religious affair so there are no "Santas" and "Reindeers" and that stuff, the decorations more depict religious scenes like nativity and the star and angels and such.
Atheist people can celebrate it if they want they just get presents and join in the general hype.
There is no snow type decorations 'cause, unless they been out of the country, people in Fictions have never seen snow except on TV, So Christmas is essentially taking place in a sunny environment as Fictions is pretty much sunny all year around.
Carol singing is still popular, again they sing hymn type songs as oppose to "Jingle bells" and similar.
People of course get time off work and school

Well, my nation around the December season is varied, but it is mostly Christmas that takes the number 1 spot.


My nations receives a lot of snow in the winter months usually between October-February, so in most respects, it is a 'white Christmas'.
In Zoingo, people give presents, but like other nations, we give them to celebrate the gifts that God had given to the world. Not to mention the Wise Men and their gifts to Jesus as well. To Zoingo, it is a season of 'giving' not 'receiving'.
The belief of "St. Nick" is varied from different parts of the nation. Some believe, some don't.
Alongside Christmas, Hanukkah is also celebrated widely as well. Zoingo also celebrates a "Commonwealth Week" in the 2nd Week of December, much like a Thanksgiving.
As for lights and decoration, Zoingo is more centralized on the lights (decorations are sort of a extra add-on), as it is a "light" and joyous season. And supposedly, the 'evils of the holidays' are warded off with the lights, making it a tradition for generations. Juvli, the ceremonial capital of the nation, is known as the 'City of Eternal Lights'; as it is so bright during the season that the lights can be seen from miles away, even from space as a small brightly lit speck.
The Colonies of the Commonwealth are varied and have their own holidays, though most practice what the 'mother country' practices.

My nation is very cold and snowy, and Christian, so there is always a white Christmas.
The Holiday is 60% religious, and 40% free market capitalism at its best. The belief of "Father Christmas", or "St. Nick" is very popular amongst children, and anyone who ruins it for children is beaten with the "Noel Stick" Every single house and building goes off the wall with lights and decorations. Every village and city has at least one central Christmas tree, and loud speakers that play christmas music. Since Reindeer are the national animal, they herd throughout the country side, and are fed corn by the children, for good cheer. Christmas Day is celebrated with a feast, including Who hash, and Roast Beast.

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http://servo3000.files.wordpress.com/2007/12/aerspa011.jpg

We have something akin to Christmas here.Its a celebration of Sajaya, our main religious spirit.We bestow presents on one another, and hope she smiles upon us with good fortune, and good health.I don't celebrate it myself, but the peons...i mean citizens get all crazy about it.I might have to outlaw it next year.

Merry Christmas, Zoingo!
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In Kirav, Christmas and Hívernus, a Coscivian cultural holiday, are the most widely celebrated winter holidays. Christmas is far more religious and less commercial than it is in RL North America, and most Kiravians can be found in a church on Christmas Eve. Hívernus is celebrated by all Coscivian-Kiravians, regardless of religion, though some claim that it is Coscivian Theist in origin.

Christmas trees are everywhere. As trees have many ceremonial uses in Kiravian culture, the Western tradition was easily adopted. Gifts, however, are generally not placed under them.

Gift-giving is practised, but is secondary in magnitude to Nóvilus, a spring festival.

As with every other social practise in Kirav, holiday traditions vary by ethnic group.

My nation is very cold and snowy, and Christian, so there is always a white Christmas.
The Holiday is 60% religious, and 40% free market capitalism at its best. The belief of "Father Christmas", or "St. Nick" is very popular amongst children, and anyone who ruins it for children is beaten with the "Noel Stick" Every single house and building goes off the wall with lights and decorations. Every village and city has at least one central Christmas tree, and loud speakers that play christmas music. Since Reindeer are the national animal, they herd throughout the country side, and are fed corn by the children, for good cheer. Christmas Day is celebrated with a feast, including Who hash, and Roast Beast.

**applause**

I visibly lol'd at that.

As most Tolvans are either Christian in some form (Catholicism, the Tovlanic Reformed Churhc, and several other Protestant denominations), Christmas is widely considered to be the most important holiday of the year (just ahead of Easter Sunday and Independence Day (May 13th). Christmas is much less commercialized, but the average person spends a fair amount of money on gifts and large holiday meals. Decorations are rare outside of Christmas Tress and wreaths. Also, most Tolvans attend a special Christmas service on Christmas Eve.

Christmas celebrations in The Grand Duchy of Radictistan are generally secular in nature. His Royal Higness the Grand Duke gives a Christmas Eve adress which is followed by red and green fireworks put on by various citizens' groups. One of the most well-known and cherished Radictistani traditions is the "Tracking Santa" show put on by the Royal Radictistan Air Force. Unlike the tame, hallmark version one may remember from the real life version, actual RRAF aircraft (generally supersonic MiG-35 fighters) take turns playing the role of Santa and the air defense network of S-300 and S-400 SAM systems are put on high alert until they "realize" that it's just Santa Claus.

Zwangzug is generally a pluralistic country, so people who observe Christmas there are almost entirely more focused on the religious aspects of the holiday than cultural ones. Given the religious diversity and low levels of private enterprise in general, retailers generally don't bother to promote it as a heavy gift-giving occasion. Most businesses keep operating, though significantly more employees will take vacation days. (Schools' New Year's breaks often include Christmas Day, though.)

There are some traditions that exist on a regional level. In Ervimnal, for instance, the beloved Tree Train spreads holiday cheer in the weeks leading up to Christmas. The leader in holiday syncretism, however, is the city of 102d with its inexplicable Pumpkin Day celebrations on October 31. Children gleefully awake to find gifts inside hollowed-out pumpkins in the morning. Then, at night, they go around town taking candy from their neighbors and putting it in stockings.

As for the rest of late December, the whole country expects snow by the solstice and almost always gets it--brown grass is significant cause for disappointment. Since Christmas isn't that big a deal in non-religious society, there's no pressure to promote other holidays in other religions (i. e. Hanukkah), and the last attempt at Bigtopian Pride day was on an April 20. (It failed like the others.) In Omephaw, Boxing Day is celebrated by vigorous boxing. New Year's Eve and Day are big holidays nationwide, two of the very few that the entire country takes off. Some people celebrate quietly with family and others less quietly. Of course, there are regional variations here as well. Many big cities have fireworks displays, though this practice has become more controversial after two children were recently injured during festivities in the city of Herthavan. Nobody missed the irony that it was the first time the rest of the country had paid any attention to Herthavan since the 18th century.

Lots of Christians in New Dornalia. Basically, this ensures that in some form, Christmas is celebrated, from everything such as a simple Christmas Eve Service among Protestant Christians to weeklong celebrations among certain Catholic communities. There's also a secular side to it--Christmas is a national holiday, with a day off for all persons and lots of businesses providing time off for the season. Generally, the season is accompanied by sales, though many communities regulate when such sales begin (usually, around late November). For non-Christians, Christmas is designated the "Workers Day of Joy," although recently that's been generally passed up in favor of secularized Christmas celebrations, a la RL Japan and the USA.

Christmas is the highlight of the year in Chernobl. There is gift giving, large feasts and parties. The Chernoblian military performs large parades in every major city, the children do not believe in a "Santa Claus" or "Father Christmas." Instead, they traditionally believe that the gifts come from Jesus himself. Church service is held on every christmas. Chernoblians tend to cover their houses in large reaths. Christmas lights are rather rare. The christmas meal consists of traditional ham, pie, beer (most popular beverage) and other foods. A small Jewish minority celebrates Hanukkah. Seeing as people of non Judeo-christian beliefs aare not allowed into the nation, these are the only holidays in the season.

Merry Christmas, Zoingo!
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Merry X-Mas to you to Kirav!

Merry X-Mas to you to Kirav!

And a Happy New Year!

And a Happy Bump!

In Zainzibar Land, the holiday is more religous than comercial. Few people know or care about Santa Claus.