{"id":2259,"date":"2016-12-23T00:07:35","date_gmt":"2016-12-23T00:07:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/https\/\/www.isango.com\/theguidebook\/?p=2259"},"modified":"2018-04-26T09:51:55","modified_gmt":"2018-04-26T09:51:55","slug":"peculiar-christmas-traditions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.isango.com\/theguidebook\/peculiar-christmas-traditions\/","title":{"rendered":"3 of the World\u2019s Most Peculiar Christmas Traditions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Christmas is all about tradition. For many of us, this means baking gingerbread men, decorating the tree to the dulcet tones of Shaking Stevens and racing to beat Macaulay Culkin to every punchline in the epic Christmas film, Home Alone<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the rare times, though, when the gingerbread men crumble, the tree ends up lopsided and there\u2019s no Home Alone<\/em> on free-to-air TV, we find ourselves fantasising about how others celebrate the most wonderful time of the year. Here\u2019s our roundup of the weird and wonderful Christmas festivities happening around the world right now.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1. G\u00e4vlebocken, G\u00e4vel, Sweden\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"gavle-goat-weird-christmas-tradition\"<\/p>\n

The G\u00e4vel Goat in all its glory. Photo via The Independent UK<\/a><\/strong><\/h5>\n

Swedes say \u201cGod Jul\u201d (\u2018Merry Christmas\u2019) by building a 13-metre high, 3.6 tonne straw goat every year. The tradition started in 1966, when advertising consultant Stig Gavl\u00e9n decided there would be nothing more festive than a giant Swedish yule goat. The construction of the G\u00e4vle Goat begins each year on the first day of advent and takes close to a thousand man-hours to complete.<\/p>\n

Despite countless efforts by authorities to safeguard the G\u00e4vle, the site has met a fiery fate no less than 37 times since its inception. Perhaps the most noteworthy torching was in 2005, when arsonists disguised themselves as gingerbread men and Santas and shot at the G\u00e4vle with fire arrows. A Holy Night indeed\u2026<\/p>\n

G\u00e4vlebocken is displayed from the 1st of December and, granted no arsonists step in, remains throughout the Christmas season. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2.\u00a0Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival, Harbin, China\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"weird-christmas-traditions-ice\"<\/p>\n

\"weird-christmas-traditions-ice-festival\"<\/p>\n

As skyscrapers overtake skyscrapers in Shanghai and Hong Kong, it\u2019s little surprise that China\u2019s Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival is of the \u2018more is more\u2019 mentality. The largest ice and snow festival in the world, more than 10,000 workers descend onto the town of Harbin each year, transforming the arctic landscape into an ice city of the most epic and colourful proportions.<\/p>\n

From ice queens to igloos and everything in between, this festival is a real-life winter wonderland. One of the most awe-inspiring sculpts of the festival in recent years, the Crystal Castle stood at 48m high, just short of Paris\u2019 Arc de Triomphe.<\/p>\n

Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival kicks off just after Christmas, from January 5th to February 25th.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

3. The Night of the Radishes, Oaxaca, Mexico<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"night-of-radishes-weird-christmas-tradition\"<\/p>\n

Photo by Robert Frerck, BBC Travel<\/a><\/strong><\/h5>\n

While the Chinese sculpt ice, in Oaxaca the Mexicans say \u201cFeliz Navidad\u201d (\u2018Happy Christmas\u2019) by carving\u2026 \u00a0radishes. Don\u2019t let the humble root vegetable disappoint though; the sculptures may be scaled down, but the festivities are not.<\/p>\n

The quirky tradition of radish Christmas carvings has been alive and well for more than a century. In 1897, in a bid to draw more shoppers to their stalls after Christmas church services, merchants would carve intricate shapes into the radishes\u2019 skin, sometimes forming little people or festive scenes. The joyous radishes were a hit, with locals buying their favourites for their Christmas centrepieces.<\/p>\n

Today, The Night of the Radishes attracts tourists and locals in their thousands each year, where best-in-show radish carvings compete for the title of best in show.<\/p>\n

The Night of the Radishes (Noche de R\u00e1banos in Spanish) is celebrated on December 23rd , with festivities continuing until Christmas Day.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What’s your favourite Christmas tradition?<\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Escape conventions, these offbeat celebrations are just a plane ride away.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":2269,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,21,60],"tags":[93,132,133,134,135,136],"yoast_head":"\n3 of the World\u2019s Most Peculiar Christmas Traditions<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Escape Yuletide conventions and find some a new Christmas tradition, these weird and wonderful celebrations are just a plane ride away.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.isango.com\/theguidebook\/peculiar-christmas-traditions\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"3 of the World\u2019s Most Peculiar Christmas Traditions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Escape Yuletide conventions and find some a new Christmas tradition, these weird and wonderful celebrations are just a plane ride away.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.isango.com\/theguidebook\/peculiar-christmas-traditions\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Guidebook - 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Her father grew up in Calcutta, mother in Borneo, siblings in California and Sasha in Swindon! A sense of injustice, a good measure of sibling rivalry and a fiery passion for adventure have fueled her travels ever since. Sasha has been lucky enough to tick a few escapades off her bucket list: bungee jumping in Brazil, road tripping in Australia to name two. Not one to be landlocked, she also loves hopping around Europe. 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