Today we’re exploring Christmas traditions around the world, hearing from some of our colleagues and friends in Europe and the Middle East to understand the different ways this special time of year brings people together.

Czechia

First up, we are getting to know the Christmas traditions of Czechia with Jana Tapperova, a longstanding friend originally from the South Moravia region:

St. Nicolas/Svaty Mikulas

“Every fifth of December, St. Nicolas along with an angel and a devil go through towns to visit homes with little children and read from a book of action they took for a whole year – whether they were naughty or nice. The nice children are rewarded with candy, oranges and goodies. Those naughty get coal, potatoes and carrots. When we were small and growing up in the South Moravia region, the volunteer fire fighters would get dressed up in very freaky and scary costumes and roam the town on this day. 

Each household would invite them in for a shot of slivovitz (Czech plumb brandy) and give them little open sandwiches as well as gift packages with notes for their children. Those dressed as the devil would strongly rumble their chains and open that big potato bag to take them to hell right the way. My childhood memories of this tradition are still vivid.”

Decorating the Christmas Tree

“On December 24th, we would tell the kids that the Christmas tree will be decorated by a ‘little Jesus’. Usually one of the parents would take the kids for a walk or play away from home while the other one decorated the tree on Christmas Eve. While they cook the dinner and keep the kids occupied, the other parent secretly puts gifts under the tree and rings a little bell for the Jesus baby’s arrival. The window must be kept open and kids call out “dekujeme Jezisku” – meaning “thank you little Jesus baby”. 

This is all happening on the night of the 24th December and after dinner together as a family. You hear the carols everywhere and watch fairytales aka koledy a pohadky. We didn’t have Santa visit on the 25th but we spent the whole three days afterwards not working, celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, visiting families and friends, eating millions of different homemade cookies which each family proudly presents with coffee, mulled wine and grog while enjoying the festivities together.”

Albania

Next we’re heading to Albania, courtesy of our colleague, Elton Caushi of Albanian Trip. Elton is co-organizing our Albania-Macedonia tour next year which promises to be a very special trip: 

“When I tell people about Christmas in Albania during communism, I always pause for a moment, because it wasn’t Christmas at all. The holiday simply didn’t exist—officially, at least. But Albanians never gave up on celebrating, so all the warmth, sparkle, and excitement that should have belonged to Christmas got squeezed into New Year’s Eve. It became the celebration, the one night of the year when the country tried its best to feel joyful.”

Albania Christmas Celebrations

“The regime even created its own holiday characters. We didn’t have Santa Claus, but we had the New Year’s Grandpa—a bearded old man who looked like Santa’s overworked cousin, symbolizing the year that was leaving. And then there was the Child of the New Year, a very young, bright-faced kid dressed almost like a tiny Santa, meant to represent the new year arriving full of hope. It was strange, endearing, and a bit absurd in hindsight, but as children we loved it. It was all we knew.

We had a tree, too—never a Christmas tree, always the New Year’s Tree. Families decorated it with whatever they could find, sometimes homemade ornaments and sometimes the same few glass balls reused for decades. For us, it was magic.

And then came the dinner—the best meal of the entire year. Roasted turkey, baklava, everything saved and planned for weeks. Families sat around the table, the television on for the special New Year’s program, a mix of music, comedy sketches, and cheerful chaos that every family in the country watched at the same time. It felt like all of Albania was gathered in one giant living room.”

New Year Gifts

“But one of my favorite memories, the one that truly captures that mix of joy and absurdity, happened before the holiday even began: the New Year’s gift parcels from our parents’ workplaces. Every factory, every office, every institution did it. Parents would queue up in long lines, and when it was finally their turn, they had to stick a hand into this giant sack filled with toys. No choosing, no browsing—you got whatever the unknown forces of destiny (and the Ministry of Whatever) decided for you.

Sometimes the fate of that bag smiled on you. Sometimes it didn’t.

Me and my brother always prayed for a ball, a toy gun, something boyish and heroic. And then there were years when our father would come home, open the parcel, and there it was: a doll. A frilly one. With a bow. You could feel the disappointment spread through the room like smoke.

That’s when the real adventure began. Our father had to become a diplomat, a trader, a negotiator—searching for a colleague or neighbor with a daughter who had received a more “masculine” toy. Deals were struck, toys exchanged, and somehow everyone walked away half-satisfied. It was tragicomic, but also very Albanian: we made things work, even if we had to turn the whole building into a marketplace to do it.”

Memories of Past Holidays

“Looking back now, those holidays feel like a patchwork of joy, scarcity, creativity, and quiet resistance. The world we celebrate in today is so open and full of possibility that it almost feels like a different planet. But those New Year’s memories—the strange characters, the handmade decorations, the unpredictable gifts—are a reminder of how families held onto tradition even when tradition itself wasn’t allowed.

They were imperfect holidays, but they were ours. And somehow, they still glow warmly in my memory.”

Saudi Arabia

Finally we’re heading to the Middle East, with our friend Amy Hodge who lived in Saudi Arabia for 15 years teaching English:

“When we first moved to Riyadh in 2009 to teach English, there was nothing Christmassy at Christmas time. Expats sold their plastic trees when they moved away and called them “decorative trees” not even using the word Christmas! But that’s also how Riyadh is. Much more conservative. 

Now in the Eastern province it’s much more relaxed and stores like Bath and Body Works, grocery stores like Carrefour and Lulu have realized the commercial opportunity of Christmas and you can get all kinds of decorations and gifts. On our compound, people put up Christmas lights and there’s always a children’s Christmas party with Santa. However, just to be safe, it’s still referred to as the Visitor from the North.”

Thanks to our friends for their stories and memories of Christmas traditions around the world – we have more coming soon so remember to keep checking our Advent series here for further posts. You can also read this post from Taste Hungary about Hungarian Christmas traditions, who help us organize our Budapest and Hungary experiences.