Sinterklaas

Sinterklaas

Sinter Claes depiction at a 16th-century house near the Dam in Amsterdam. Saint Nicholas is the patron saint of the capital of the Netherlands.

Zwarte Piet

Sinterklaas and his Zwarte Piet helpers arriving by steamboat from Spain

A chocolate letter, typical Sinterklaas candy

Kruidnoten, small, round ginger bread-like cookies

The Feast of Saint Nicholas, byJan Steen

Sinterklaas is a traditional Winter holiday figure in the Netherlands, Belgium, Aruba, Suriname, Curacao, Bonaire, and Indonesia; he is celebrated annually on Saint Nicholas' eve (5 December) or, in Belgium, on the morning of 6 December. Originally, the feast celebrates the name day of Saint Nicholas, patron saint of children, sailors, and the city of Amsterdam, among others. Sinterklaas is the basis of the mythical holiday figure of Santa Claus in the United States and Canada.

Sinterklaas is his usual name. The more formal name is Sint Nicolaas or Sint Nikolaas. He is also known as Goedheiligman or simply Sint. The Dutch write Sinterklaas.

The Saint Nicholas feast is also celebrated, in different forms, in the traditionally Germanic parts of France (Nord-Pas de Calais, Alsace, Lorraine), as well as in Luxembourg, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, and in the town of Trieste and in the region of South Tirol in Italy. Additionally, many Roman Catholics of Alsatian and Lotharingian descent in Cincinnati, Ohio, celebrate Saint Nicholas Day on the morning of 6 December. The traditions differ from country to country.

History

Pre-Christian Europe

Parallels have been drawn between the legend of Sinterklaas and the figure of Odin, a major god amongst the Germanic peoples and worshipped in North and Western Europe prior to Christianization. Since some elements of the Sinterklaas celebration are unrelated to Christianity, there are theories regarding the pagan origins of various customs of the holiday stemming from areas where the Germanic peoples were Christianized and retained elements of their indigenous traditions, surviving in various forms into modern depictions of Sinterklaas. Non-Christian elements in Sinterklaas that arguably could have been of pagan origin:

Sinterklaas rides the roof tops with his white horse Amerigo; Odin rides the sky with his gray horse Sleipnir.

Sinterklaas and Odin are both depicted with a long beard.

Sinterklaas has a staff and mischievous helpers with black faces; Odin has a spear and black ravens as his attributes.

It has been also claimed that the tradition of children placing their boots filled with carrots, straw or sugar near the chimney for the White horse of Sinterklaas goes back to pre-Christian North Western Europe, where children would place their boots near the chimney for Odin's flying horse, Sleipnir, to eat.

Whether these similarities are based on coincidence or are just folk etymological creations of the Romantic 19th Century, is a question for debate.

Middle Ages

Originally, the Sinterklaas feast celebrates the name day, 6 December, of the Saint Nicholas (280–342), patron saint of children and sailors. Saint Nicholas was a Greek bishop of Myra in present-day Turkey. In 1087, his relics were furtively translated to Bari, in southeastern Italy; for this reason, he is also known as Nikolaos of Bari. His fame spread throughout Europe. The Western Christian Church made his name day a Church holiday. In the north of France, he became the patron saint of school children, then mostly in church schools. The folk feast arose during the Middle Ages. In early traditions, students elected one of them as "bishop" on St. Nicholas Day, who would rule until December 28 (Innocents Day). They sometimes acted out events from the bishop's life. As the festival moved to city streets, it became more lively.

Sinterklaas is assisted by many mischievous helpers with black faces and colourful Moorish dresses. These helpers are called 'Zwarte Pieten' (Black Petes). During the Middle-ages Zwarte Piet was a name for the devil. Having triumphed over evil, it was said that on Saint Nicholas eve the devil was shackled and made his slave. Although the character of Black Pete later came to acquire racial connotations, his origins were in the devil figure.

The feast was both an occasion to help the poor, by putting money in their shoes (which evolved into putting presents in children's shoes) and a wild feast, similar to Carnival, that often led to costumes, a "topsy-turvy" overturning of daily roles, and mass public drunkenness.

16th and 17th Century

After the Protestant Reformation, England and Germany prohibited celebration of the saint; the Netherlands also became a largely Protestant country following the Reformation, and the government abolished public celebrations in the 17th century, but people protested, including students in Amsterdam. The government allowed celebration within the family.

19th Century

In the nineteenth century the saint came out of his hiding and became more secularized at the same time. The modern tradition of Sinterklaas as a children's feast was likely confirmed with the illustrated children's book Sint Nicolaas en zijn knecht (Saint Nicholas and His Servant), written in 1850 by the teacher Jan Schenkman (1806–1863). Some say he introduced the images of Sinterklaas' delivering presents by the chimney, riding over the roofs of houses on a gray horse, and arriving from Spain by steamboat, then an exciting modern invention. Although others claim that some of these elements (like putting the shoe and the gray horse that is capable of riding roof tops) stem from much earlier times, dating even back to pre-Christian Europe. It is a fact however, that Sint Nicholas is patron saint of the sailors, that's why many churches dedicated to him are build near harbours. So Schenkman could have been inspired by original customs and ideas about the saint, when he let him arrive via the water in his book. Schenkman introduced the song "Zie ginds komt de stoomboot" ("See, there comes the steamboat"), which is still popular in the nation.

In Schenkman's version, the medieval figures of the mock devil, which later changed to Oriental or Moorish helpers, was portrayed for the first time as black African and called Zwarte Piet (Black Peter). He is a negro boy who accompanies Sinterklaas and helps him on his rounds (possibly derived from the Dutch colonial experience, or the Moorish occupation of Spain, the main Catholic nation.) Traditionally Sinterklaas only had one helper, whose name varied wildly. "Piet(er)" the name in use now can be traced back to a book from 1891.

World War II

In the lean times of the German occupation of the Netherlands (1940–1945), Sinterklaas nonetheless came to cheer everyone, not just children. Many of the traditional Sinterklaas rhymes written during those times referred to current events. The Royal Air Force (RAF) was often celebrated. In 1941, for instance, the RAF dropped boxes of candy over the occupied Netherlands. A contemporary poem was the following:

R.A.F. Kapoentje,

Gooi wat in mijn schoentje,

Bij de Moffen gooien,

Maar in Holland strooien!

This is a variation of one of the best-known traditional Sinterklaas rhymes, with "R.A.F." replacing "Sinterklaas" in the first line (the two expressions have the same metrical characteristics), and in the third and fourth lines, the RAF is encouraged to drop bombs on the Moffen (slur for Germans, like "krauts" in English) and candy over the Netherlands. Many of the Sinterklaas poems of this time noted the lack of food and basic necessities, and the German occupiers having taken everything of value; others expressed admiration for the Dutch Resistance.

Late 20th and 21st Century

The arrival of Sinterklaas into town became a huge event and is broadcasted on national television. Numerous people dress as Zwarte Pieten in various cities and towns across the Netherlands.Their faces were blackened to indicate that Zwarte Piet was an imported African servant of Sinterklaas (though some people said Zwarte Piet was a slave who, when Sinterklaas bought him his freedom, was so grateful that he stayed to assist him). Today however, the more politically correct explanation that Pete's face is "black from soot" (as Pete has to climb through chimneys to deliver his gifts) is used.

In the Netherlands, Saint Nicholas' Eve (5 December) became the chief occasion for gift-giving during the Christmas season. The evening is called "Sinterklaasavond" or "Pakjesavond" ("presents evening"). In the Netherlands, most children receive their presents on this evening. For Belgian and some Dutch children it is customary to put their shoe in front of the fireplace on the evening of 5 December, then go to bed, and find the presents around the shoes on the morning of the 6th. In some parts of the Netherlands, it is more customary to place their shoes in front of the door from the moment Sinterklaas arrives in the Netherlands, until December the 5th. Sometimes, children will find candy in their shoes on the next morning. On December the 5th, "Zwarte Piet" will leave a sack with presents. Some parents will knock on the door and leave the sack outside for children to retrieve; this varies per family. After this, Sinterklaas will leave the country and the festivities are over.

Appearance

Sinterklaas

Sinterklaas is an elderly, stately and serious man with white hair and a long, full beard. He wears a long red cape or chasuble over a traditional white bishop's alb and sometimes red stola, dons a red mitre, and holds a gold-coloured crosier, a long ceremonial shepherd's staff with a fancy curled top. He carries a big book that tells whether each individual child has been good or naughty in the past year. He traditionally rides a white gray.

Zwarte Piet

A Zwarte Piet (Black Pete, plural Zwarte Pieten) is a servant of Sinterklaas, usually an adolescent in blackface with black curly hair, dressed up like a 17-th century page in a colourful dress, often with a lace collar, and donning a feathered cap.

Sinterklaas and his Black Pete usually carry a bag which contains candy for nice children and a roe, a chimney sweep's broom made of willow branches, used to spank naughty children. Some of the older Sinterklaas songs make mention of naughty children being put in the bag and being taken back to Spain. The Zwarte Pieten toss candy around, a tradition supposedly originating in Sint Nicolaas' story of saving three young girls from prostitution by tossing golden coins through their window at night to pay their father's debts. They also climb down chimneys to fill the children's shoes with presents which, according to modern anti-racism tradition, causes their skin to be black.

There are various explanations of the origins of the helpers. The oldest explanation is that the helpers symbolize the two ravens Hugin and Munin who informed Odin on what was going on. In later stories the helper depicts the defeated devil. The devil is defeated by either Odin or his helper Nörwi, the black father of the night. Nörwi is usually depicted with the same staff of birch (Dutch: "roe") as Zwarte Piet.

Another, more modern story is that Saint Nicolas liberated an Ethiopian slave boy called 'Piter' (from Saint Peter) from a Myra market, and the boy was so grateful he decided to stay with Saint Nicolas as a helper. With the influx of immigrants to the Netherlands starting in the late 1950s, this story is felt by some to be racist. Today, Zwarte Pieten have become modern servants, who have black faces because they climb down sooty chimneys. They hold chimney cleaning tools (cloth bag and staff of birch).

The Zwarte Pieten have roughly the same relationship to the Dutch Saint Nicolas that the elves have to America's Santa Claus. According to tradition, the saint has a Piet for every function: there are navigation Pieten ("wegwijspiet") to navigate the steamboat from Spain to Holland, and acrobatic Pieten to climb roofs and stuff presents down the chimney, or to climb down the chimneys themselves. Over the years many stories have been added. In many cases the Pieten are quite bad at their job, for instance the navigation Piet might point in the wrong direction. This provides some comedy in the annual parade of Saint Nicolas coming to the Netherlands, and can also be used to laud the progress of children at school by having the Piet give the wrong answer to, for example, a simple question like "what is 2+2?", so that the child can give the right answer.

Arrival and Origin

Sinterklaas arrives

Sinterklaas arrives in Rumst

Sinterklaas traditionally arrives in the Netherlands each year in mid-November (usually on a Saturday) by steamboat from Spain. Some suggest that gifts associated with the holy man, the mandarin oranges, led to the misconception that he must have been from Spain. This theory is backed by a Dutch poem documented in 1810 in New York and provided with an English translation:

Dutch

Sinterklaas, goed heilig man!

Trek uwe beste tabberd an,

Reis daar mee naar Amsterdam,

Van Amsterdam naar Spanje,

Daar Appelen van Oranje,

Daar Appelen van granaten,

Die rollen door de straten.

English

Saint Nicholas, good holy man!

Put on the Tabard, best you can,

Go, therewith, to Amsterdam,

From Amsterdam to Spain,

Where apples bright of Orange,

And likewise those granate surnam'd,

Roll through the streets, all free unclaim'd

The text presented here comes from a pamphlet that John Pintard released in New York in 1810. It is the earliest source mentioning Spain in connection to Sinterklaas. Pintard wanted St. Nicholas to become patron saint of New York and hoped to establish a Sinterklaas tradition. Apparently he got help from the Dutch community in New York, who provided him with the original Dutch Sinterklaas poem. Strictly speaking, the poem does not state that Sinterklaas comes from Spain, but that he needs to go to Spain to pick up the oranges and pomegranates. So the link between Sinterklaas and Spain goes through the oranges, a much appreciated treat in the 19th century. Later the connection with the oranges got lost, and Spain became his home.

At his arrival Sinterklaas parades through the streets on his gray horse Amerigo, welcomed by cheering and singing children. This event is broadcast live on national television in the Netherlands and Belgium. His Zwarte Piet assistants throw candy and small, round, gingerbread-like cookies, either "kruidnoten" or "pepernoten," into the crowd. The children welcome him by singing traditional Sinterklaas songs. Sinterklaas visits schools, hospitals and shopping centers. After this arrival, all towns with a dock usually celebrate their own "intocht van Sinterklaas" (arrival of Sinterklaas). Local arrivals usually take place later on the same Saturday of the national arrival, the next Sunday (the day after he arrives in the Netherlands or Belgium), or one weekend after the national arrival. In places a boat cannot reach, Sinterklaas arrives by train, horse, or even carriage or fire truck.

Presents

Traditionally, in the weeks between his arrival and 5 December, before going to bed, children put their shoes next to the fireplace chimney of the coal-fired stove or fireplace. In modern times, they may put them next to the central heating unit. They leave the shoe with a carrot or some hay in it and a bowl of water nearby "for Sinterklaas' horse", and the children sing a Sinterklaas song. The next day they will find some candy or a small present in their shoes.

Typical Sinterklaas treats traditionally include: hot chocolate, mandarin oranges, pepernoten, letter-shaped pastry filled with almond paste or chocolate letter (the first letter of the child's name made out of chocolate), speculaas (sometimes filled with almond paste), chocolate coins and marzipan figures. Newer treats include kruidnoten (a type of shortcrust biscuit or gingerbread biscuits) and a figurine of Sinterklaas made of chocolate and wrapped in colored aluminum foil.

Poems can still accompany bigger gifts as well. Instead of such gifts being brought by Sinterklaas, family members may draw names for an event comparable to Secret Santa. Gifts are to be creatively disguised (for which the Dutch use the French word "surprise"), and are usually accompanied by a humorous poem which often teases the recipient for well-known bad habits or other character deficiencies.

Sinterklaas, Santa Claus, and Christmas

Sinterklaas is the basis for the North American figure of Santa Claus. It is often claimed that during the American War of Independence the inhabitants of New York City, a former Dutch colonial town (New Amsterdam) reinvented their Sinterklaas tradition, as Saint Nicholas was a symbol of the city's non-English past.The name Santa Claus supposedly derived from older Dutch Sinter Klaas. But, the Saint Nicholas Society was not founded until 1835, almost half a century after the end of the war. In a study of the "children's books, periodicals and journals" of New Amsterdam, the scholar Charles Jones did not find references to Saint Nicholas or Sinterklaas. Not all scholars agree with Jones's findings, which he reiterated in a book in 1978. Howard G. Hageman, of New Brunswick Theological Seminary, maintains that the tradition of celebrating Sinterklaas in New York existed in the early settlement of the Hudson Valley. He agrees that "there can be no question that by the time the revival of St. Nicholas came with Washington Irving, the traditional New Netherlands observance had completely disappeared." However, Irving's stories prominently featured legends of the early Dutch settlers, so while the traditional practice may have died out, Irving's St. Nicholas may have been a revival of that dormant Dutch strand of folklore. In his 1812 revisions to A History of New York, Irving inserted a dream sequence featuring St. Nicholas soaring over treetops in a flying wagon — a creation others would later dress up as Santa Claus.

But was Irving the first to revive the Dutch folklore of Sinterklaas? In New York, two years earlier John Pintard published a pamphlet with illustrations of Alexander Anderson in which he calls for to make Sint Nicholas patron Saint of New York and to start a Sinterklaas tradition. He was apparently assisted by the Dutch, because in his pamphlet he included an old Dutch Sinterklaas poem with English translation. In the Dutch poem, Saint Nicholas is referred to as 'Sancta Claus'. Ultimately, his initiative helped Sinterklaas to pop up as Santa Claus in the Christmas celebration, which returned - freed of episcopal dignity - via England and later Germany to Europe again.

The Saint Nicholas Society of New York celebrates a feast on 6 December to this day. The town of Rhinebeck in Dutchess County, New York, which was founded by Dutch and German immigrants, has an annual Sinterklaas celebration. It includes Sinterklaas' crossing the Hudson River and a parade up to the center of town.

During the Reformation in 16th-17th century Europe, many Protestants changed the gift bringer to the Christ Child or Christkindl (corrupted in English to Kris Kringle). Similarly, the date of giving gifts changed from December 5 or 6th to Christmas Eve.

(source:wikipedia)

Joulupukki

Joulupukki is a Finnish Christmas figure. The name Joulupukki literally means Yule Goat. The Finnish word "pukki" comes from the Swedish "bock" (equivalent of the English "buck" or "billy-goat") and is an old Scandinavian tradition. Over time, the figure became more or less merged with Santa Claus.

There is a long Finnish tradition of persons dressing in goat costume to solicit or perform for leftover food after Christmas. Historically, such a person was an older man, and the tradition refers to him as a nuuttipukki. The term now also describes the practice, reportedly continuing in some parts of Finland.

Today Joulupukki looks and behaves mostly like his American version, but there are differences. Joulupukki's house and workshop are situated in the mountains of Korvatunturi, whereas the American counterpart resides at the North Pole. Another difference is that instead of sneaking in through the chimney during the late night hours, Joulupukki knocks on the front door during the Christmas Eve celebrations. When he comes in, his first words are traditionally "Onkos täällä kilttejä lapsia?" (Are there (any) well-behaved children here?)

He usually wears warm red clothes, uses a walking stick, and travels in a sleigh pulled by a number of reindeer. Unlike the American version, the reindeer do not fly. In Lapland, pulka rather than a sleigh can be encountered. The popular song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" in its Finnish translation, Petteri Punakuono, has led to Rudolph's general acceptance in the mythology as Joulupukki's lead reindeer. Joulupukki has a wife, Joulumuori ("Old Lady Christmas"), but tradition doesn't have much to say about her.

Home

Joulupukki lives in Korvatunturi in Finnish Lapland.

Joulupukki's assistants are called tonttu, or more precisely joulutonttu (from Swedish tomte); they are not elves, but essentially human, often dwarflike in character. They usually wear similar attire to Joulupukki's, and males also have a white beard; but joulutonttu are often smaller in size and may be of any age and either gender. While only a rather large, aged person can convincingly dress as Joulupukki, conveniently everyone can dress as a joulutonttu, with less special attire required.

Trivia

The location of Joulupukki's workshop comes from a children's radio show called Markus-sedän lastentunti ("Children's hour with Uncle Markus") hosted by Markus Rautio and broadcast by the Finnish Broadcasting Company between years 1927-1956.

Finland's Joulupukki received over 700,000 letters from children all over the world in 2006, according to a news report by the Finnish Broadcasting Company, YLE.

The US-based Coca-Cola Santa Claus was designed by the son of Finnish emigrants, Haddon Sundblom.

Joulupukki is a prominent character in Rare Exports, a movie based on the award winning shorts by Jalmari Helander.

The origins of Joulupukki

One interesting theory about the origins of Joulupukki and his flying reindeer, comes from the aboriginal Saami people of Lapland. In the forests there is a common poisonous mushroom, Amanita muscaria, that is red with white dots. The Saami shamans used to feed this mushroom to the reindeer, whereby the intestinal tract of the reindeer would filter out the poison, but leave the intoxicating substances. The urine of the reindeer would then be collected and used as a hallucinogenic by the shamans. The shamans would often have out-of-the-body experiences and fly in the sky, returning through the chimney hole of their tent or cottage to their bodies. This shamanistic tradition would explain the flying reindeer, the use of chimneys, and even the red-white colouring of Joulupukki.

Joulupukki's dark side

Pagans used to have festivities to ward off evil spirits. In Finland these spirits of darkness wore goat skins and horns. In the beginning this creature didn't give presents but demanded them. The Yule Goat was an ugly creature and frightened children.

It is unclear how this personality was transformed into the benevolent Father Christmas. Nowadays the only remaining feature is the name. The process was probably a continuous amalgamation of many old folk customs and beliefs from varied sources. One can speak of a Christmas pageant tradition consisting of many personages with roles partly Christian, partly pagan: A white-bearded saint, the Devil, demons, house gnomes. Nowadays the Joulupukki of Finland resembles the American Santa Claus.

Popular radio programs from the year 1927 onwards probably had great influence in reformatting the concept with the Santa-like costume, reindeer and Korvatunturi as its dwelling place. Because there really are reindeer in Finland, and Finns live up North, the popular American cult took root in Finland very quickly.

(source:wikipedia)

Swedish festivities

The student cap once belonged to a privileged class.
 Today it is worn by most Swedes at the end of
 secondary school.

Life of Swedish people

Over 70% of Swedes belong to the Lutheran Church of Sweden, but seldom go to church. Attendance is a bit higher among members of free churches such as Pentecostalists and the Salvation Army. Christenings, weddings and funerals are usually made in church, although civil weddings are generally accepted - especially for subsequent marriages. Around half of Swedes are confirmed, usually at the age of fifteen. Other celebrations are studenten ("the student", originally studentexamen, "the student's degree") - the graduation from secondary school, and decennial birthdays.

The week in Sweden

Saturday is associated with candy,

Swedish weeks begin on Mondays. Most Swedes keep track of week numbers for long-term planning.

Sweden is one of the few countries in the world where most retail stores, at least in cities, are open all week. Laws regulating activities on Sundays were abolished during the late 20th century.

A dish which for most Swedes is seen as typical, though the tradition of it is rarely followed, for Thursdays is pea soup followed by pancakes with jam as dessert.

Most Swedish children are allowed to eat sweets only on Saturdays - lördagsgodis. This tradition is intended to prevent dental caries, but its history contains questionable medical ethics - it is the result of the Vipeholm experiments, in which mentally challenged patients were forced to be test subjects of painful experiments in dental health.

Swedish alcohol habits vary greatly during the week - Swedes expect each other to be completely sober during work hours (even one beer for lunch is taboo), but many people drink heavily during weekends. See also alcohol in Sweden.

Sweden, especially Norrland, can have extreme seasonal differences. This has affected the festivities, as many of them commemorate the turn of seasons. Many holiday celebrations take place on the eve - the day before the holiday proper (for instance Walpurgis night and Christmas Eve).

New Year celebration

New Year is celebrated with fireworks, starting at 00.00 on New Year's Day, and sparkling wine and lots of snacks, usually after a shellfish dinner late on New Year's Eve.

In recent years, many people start the fireworks already on New Year's Eve or even many days before. This has led to much debate, since it is not only in violation of the tradition but many people also find it disturbing or even frightening to have fireworks go off for days instead of only in the half hour or so after midnight on New Year's night.

On New Year's Eve, Sveriges Television (SVT) shows the classical comedy sketch Dinner for One, Grevinnan och Betjänten. There are also often special shows commemorating the ending of the TV year, showing highlights from the year. TV also broadcast popular movies on this night. At midnight, SVT shows the celebration on Skansen in Stockholm, where a prominent actor reads Edvard Fredin's translation of Alfred Tennyson's Ring Out, Wild Bells On New Year's Day. SVT also used to show the British half-hour comedy The Plank and the ski jumping contest in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, but they have been withdrawn. On New Year's Day, SVT shows The New Year Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. The film Ivanhoe was broadcasted by SVT on New Year's Day earlier, but the commercial channel TV3 has taken over the tradition.

Winter

A semla, eaten from Fat Tuesday until Easter,

Valentine's Day, Alla hjärtans dag, "All Hearts' Day", is recognized by merchants, but not taken very seriously.

Schools have a one-week break during February called sportlov ("sports break"). This break originated in the coke rationing of World War II, but today it is more of an incentive for exercise through winter sports. The break occurs between week 7 and 10 depending on county, to spread utilization of Swedish ski resorts.

Swedes celebrate Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday, Fettisdagen) 41 days before Easter (rather Palm Sunday, since the fasting was forty days, Ash Wednesday to the day before Easter Saturday, Sundays not included). This is celebrated by eating a special pastry called semla. Lent is honoured by a minority of Swedes. The annual première of semla-eating has crept all the way to early January.

Spring

A Walpurgis fire.

A May Day demonstration in Stockholm by the Left Party, 2006.

On the 25th of March on the Christian holiday of Annunciation the Swedes eat waffles, as the day is called the "Waffle Day". This is in fact due to a misunderstanding of the phrase "vårfrudagen" which means "Our Lady's day", which sounds like "våffeldagen", meaning "waffle day."

Easter (påsk) is celebrated in Sweden. The belief in witches travelling to Blåkulla on Maundy Thursday (originally for a sabbath with the Devil) is honoured by children dressing up as witches (påskkärring), knocking the doors in the neighbourhoods requesting treats (much like the trick or treat during Halloween in many English-speaking countries). Good Friday used to be an extraordinarily calm day when all businesses were closed down to commemorate the passion of Christ, but today it is more of an ordinary holiday.

It is customary to eat boiled eggs as well as chocolate eggs and other sweets, and to hand out simple gifts in paper eggs. Easter decorations in the shape of chickens, easter bunnies and witches are popular, and also feathers in bright colours.

April Fools' Day on the 1st of April första april most people try to trick each other. If succeeded you say April, april din dumma sill jag kan lura dig vart jag vill meaning April, april you stupid herring, I can trick you where ever I want (to)

On the last day of April Walpurgis Night (Valborg) is celebrated throughout Sweden to greet spring. This is done by igniting large bonfires and singing songs celebrating the coming of springtime. This is also an occasion when Swedish youngsters and particularly university students drink large amounts of alcohol.

1 of May(Första maj), like the 1 of April most people try to trick another if succeeded you say Maj, maj måne, jag kan lura dig till Skåne meaning May, may moon, I can trick you to (go to) Scania.

May Day is a public holiday, and celebrated by the Swedish labor movement with demonstrations and political speeches.

Since Ascension Day, Kristi himmelfärdsdag, occurs on a Thursday, the subsequent Friday is a klämdag, "squeezed day", taken off from work by many Swedish people. Pentecost, pingst, often coincides with weddings and confirmations.

Summer

Midsummer's Eve is always on a Friday.

The Swedish National Day on June 6 is a public holiday as of 2005, but so far there are few established traditions for this day. The celebration of this day begun as the Day of the Swedish Flag, ca 1900, and the day is chosen in commemoration of the election of Gustav Vasa as King of Sweden on this date in 1523.

The second most important festivity in the Swedish calendar, or perhaps for many the most important, is Midsummer, midsommar. Midsummer's Eve is celebrated on the eve of the Saturday between the 20 and 26 June. Most Swedes try upon this day to get to a place in the countryside where they can eat pickled herring, boiled potatoes and sour cream as well as strawberries and brännvin. A maypole is often erected around which, at least if there are children present at the celebration, dancing is performed. Houses are often decorated in birch twigs. Midsumer's Eve is a very romantic and sexually loaded night for Swedes (evident in the phallic maypole) and it is traditional for young girls to in the middle of the night to pick seven different kinds of flowers and jump over seven hedges without uttering a word. Then would they dream of their true love when sleeping with the flowers tucked under their pillow.

The minimum vacation each year is five weeks, and most Swedes take all of July off - the "industrial vacation".

In early August, there is the kräftpremiär (crayfish première). It used to follow the crayfish fishing season, but as most crayfish are imported, the exact dates of crayfish parties have become more flexible.

Some Swedes eat surströmming, fermented Baltic herring, in late August. The rest keep distance.

A few weeks later comes the surströmmingspremiär sporting the most exotic food in the Swedish cuisine.

Autumn

Halloween in an American style was imported to Sweden during the 1990s, and is now widely celebrated among children and youth, with another opportunity to collect sweets from neighbours. However, unlike the US it is celebrated the same day as the Church of Sweden celebrates the All Saints day, alla helgons dag, (defined as the Saturday between October 31 and November 6) and is mostly observed by older kids in the later teens as an excuse for having drinking parties. The coincident with All Saints has caused some controversy, since the latter is supposed to be a solemn remembrance of the dead.

On the 11th of November, the people of Skåne celebrate Mårtensgås in remembrance of Martin of Tours, by eating goose. This tradition has little recognition in the rest of Sweden.

Christmas

The Gävle goat.

A julbord with Christmas dishes.

Swedes prepare for Christmas, jul, with Advent candles and opening Advent calendars. St. Lucia Day, Luciadagen on December 13, is a typically Swedish occasion. During Advent it's also common with Glöggfester mulled wine parties where friends visit each other's homes and drink mulled wine and have gingerbreads.

Traditional Christmas decorations include a Christmas tree, Yule Goats of straw (such as the Gävle goat), tomte and angel figurines and nativity scenes. Decoration has been influenced by Anglo-Saxon traditions, though extensive, blinking Christmas lights as common in the United States are considered to be a bit kitschy.

Many restaurants serve julbord (the Christmas version of smörgåsbord) throughout December. Most Christmas traditions take place as families and relatives gather on Christmas Eve. Jultomten, Santa Claus, visits many homes handing out presents, coincidentally when one family member is absent to buy the newspaper. There is no celebration on Christmas Day, except for julotta, a divine service in the morning commemorating the birth of Christ, and it is especially Swedish since it is only celebrated in Sweden and some places in Finland and Norway. Unlike many other Christian countries, cinemas are not closed on Christmas Day. On the contrary, many major films premiere on this day and it has become tradition for many to go to the cinema with the whole family on this night. The second day of Christmas Annandagen is a public holiday and typically the party day. In small and middle sized towns in Sweden, the Christmas Day and second day of Christmas are traditionally the Homecoming days, when people visiting their hometowns get together and party.

]Christmas television

Television (see television of Sweden) has been an important part in Swedish Christmas and New Year celebration, since it became widespread in the 1960s, which might seem natural with all the stress before the holidays, the darkness and cold outdoors (often with too little snow and ice to do snow sports), and the involuntary loneliness of many.

Each Advent, from December 1 to December 24, Sveriges Television features Julkalendern ("The Christmas calendar"), a daily drama series for a family audience. The Nobel Prize ceremony on December 10 is broadcast, with much attention to female celebrities' dresses.

At 15:00 on Christmas Eve, Sveriges Television airs Kalle Anka och hans vänner önskar God Jul (From All of Us to All of You), commonly referred to as Kalle Anka - Donald Duck. (Donald is by far the most popular Disney cartoon in Sweden.) This one-hour show mostly contains clips from classical Disney films, such as Robin Hood and The Jungle Book (with the song The Bear Necessities), as well as promotional clips for recent Disney films, concluded with the song When You Wish Upon A Star. The show is one of the highest-rated Swedish television programs, only rivalled by international sports events and the Eurovision Song Contest, and most Swedish people can recite much of the show.

Another traditional christmas broadcast is Sagan om Karl-Bertil Jonssons Julafton (Christopher's Christmas Mission).

(source:wikipedia)