Christmas Traditions in Peru

Christmas is a season of festivity, hope and happiness. This is time that every individual likes to spend with family and friends. People come together to enjoy parties, feasts and get together. The families start preparing for Christmas well in advance. They clean and decorate with evergreen twigs, flowers and wreaths. The Christmas tree is brought home and it is decorated with Christmas lights, tinsel and ornaments. Everything is decked up to welcome the grand and universal festival of Christmas. Christmas is celebrated through out the world. The traditions may differ but the enjoyment derived out of celebration is same worldwide.

Christmas celebration in Peru, a South American country has influence of both American and European culture. The majority of the people in Peru are Catholics so Christmas traditions are quite old. The population of Peru has some traditions that differ from other nations. The festival of Christmas is celebrated in the summer season in Peru. The school children have summer break just like European kids have winter break. As it is summer there are some traditions in food and drinks different from European countries. The culture of Peru is based on a lot of Catholic beliefs. Therefore, a lot of people attend Midnight Christmas Mass on Christmas Eve.

There is no snow during Christmas in Peru. The Santa Claus is a recent tradition that we see in Peru. This is due to the commercialization and influence of western thoughts on South American countries. The government has banned Santa Claus to stop the commercialization of this holy and religious festival. The government believes that the concept of Santa has capitalist ideas attached with it. The entire Peru population celebrates the Christmas Eve. After, the church mass, people come home and open their gifts followed by a traditional dinner with friends and family members.

The people enjoy food and drinks. Parties are organized and Champagne is offered to celebrate. The kids are served hot chocolate with flavor of cinnamon and cloves. The traditional food has turkey with salads, tamales and Panettone, sweet bread specially made for Christmas. There are fire works in major cities of Peru on Christmas Eve. People enjoy dance, music for the entire night with great food. On the Christmas day morning, people get up late as they party the entire night. Every house hold in Peru has a manger featuring a nativity scene. On the Christmas day, figurine of Child Jesus is kept in the manger.

There is a typical tradition of accepting gift in Peru on Christmas day. The two persons hug, kiss each other on cheek, say thank you and then accept the gift. This shows their love and respect for each other. This is something different from other cultures.