Canada is a very large country and people of many different cultural
backgrounds live there. Because of this, there are lots of different
Christmas traditions in Canada. Many of the traditions and celebrations
come from French, English, Irish, Scottish, German, Norwegian, Ukrainian and native/first nation influences.
People in Canada send Christmas Cards to their friends and family.
Many Canadians open their gifts on Christmas Eve. Some only open
their stocking on Christmas Eve. Others choose one gift to open, then
save the rest until Christmas Day.
Canadians like to decorate their houses with Christmas Trees, lights
and other decorations. There's often Christmas stockings hung by the
fireplace, ready for Santa!
The main Christmas meal is often roast turkey with vegetables and
'all the trimmings' like mashed potatoes and vegetables. Traditional
favorite Christmas desserts include Christmas/plum puddings and
mincemeat tarts. Christmas crackers are popular with many people in
Canada as well. A rich fruit Christmas Cake is also normally eaten
around Christmas time!
However, people from different backgrounds and cultures have their own favorite foods at Christmas.
Going skiing, skating and tobogganing are also popular if there's snow at Christmas!
Canadian children also believe in Santa Claus. Canadians are especially proud to say that their country is the home of Santa Claus. (Although I'm sure the people in Finland would disagree!)
The Santa Claus Parade in Toronto is one of the oldest and largest
Santa parades in the world! It started in 1913 when Santa was pulled
through the streets of Toronto. Children along the route followed Santa
and marched along with him. It's been taking place for over 100 years
and now is a huge event with over 25 animated floats and 2000 people
taking part! It's broadcast on TV around the world.
"Sinck Tuck" is a festival started by the Inuit that is celebrated in
some provinces of Canada. This celebration consists of dancing and gift
exchanging.
The Eastern Canadian province of Nova Scotia is known all over the world for its fir and pine Christmas Trees,
so most families in Canada have a fir or pine Christmas Tree. One
Canadian tradition is to send the biggest, best fir tree (grown in Nova
Scotia) to Boston, USA
because of the assistance given during the disaster, known worldwide,
as the Halifax Explosion. This tradition has carried on for many years.
Bostonians always love and appreciate the Nova Scotian Christmas Tree.
They place this tree in the city and then light it during a ceremony to
begin the Christmas season.
Mummering is a tradition which mainly takes place in the province of
Newfoundland, more commonly in small towns and villages rather than
large towns and cities. It's also sometimes called 'Jannying'. People
dress up in costumes and knock on someone's door and say in a disguised
voice, "Are there any Mummers in the night?" or "Any mummers 'loud
in?'", meaning 'are mummers allowed in the house?' Then they sing and
dance and have Christmas cake and a cup of something nice before moving
on to the next house. In some places, if the host does not guess who the
Mummers are, the host must join the Mummers in their merry-making.
Going Mummering is a fun Christmas season activity for adults. Mummers
usually come out between December 26th and January 6th (The 12 Days of
Christmas). However, some come out only before Christmas Day. In some
places Mummering is now banned because people used it as an excuse for
begging. You can find out more about the history of Mummering in Newfoundland on the Live Rural Newfoundland and Labrador blog (goes to another site).
On the south shore of Nova Scotia, over Christmas, there's the
tradition of Belsnickeling where people dress up in funny Santa costumes
and go from house to house until the home owners guess who you were. It
was especially popular in West & East Green Harbour. The
Belsnicklers often brought musical instruments and sang. They were
served Christmas cake or cookies. This tradition was brought to Nova
Scotia by the 1751 Germans immigrants who settled Lunenburg and South
shore.
In northern Canada, some people plan a Taffy Pull. This is held in
honour of Saint Catherine, the patron saint of single women. This party
provides an opportunity for single women to meet eligible single men!
Labrador City in Newfoundland holds a Christmas Light-up Contest each
year. People dress the outside of their houses up with lights and often
have big ice sculptures in their front gardens! They have no trouble
finding enough snow or ice, because Labrador City has about 12-14 Feet
of snow every year!
Many Canadian families have cookie-baking parties. They bring a
recipe for Christmas cookies, bake them and then exchange them with the
members of their family. Gingerbread people and houses are favorites,
along with cheese straws. At the end of the party, each family goes home
with a variety of different cookies to enjoy over the Christmas season.
Many families of French descent have a huge feast/party on Christmas
Eve called a 'Réveillon' that lasts well into the early hours of
Christmas morning after taking part in Christmas Eve Mass. When people
are at Midnight Mass, they hope that 'Père Noel' (Santa) will visit
their house and leave gifts for children under the tree. The traditional
Christmas meal for people in Quebec, is a stew called 'ragoût aux
pattes de cochons' which is made from pigs feet! However, many people
now have a 'Tortière', a meat pie made from venison (or pork or beef).
At the end of the Christmas season, January 6th, people in the
province of Quebec have a celebration called "La Fete du Roi" They bake a
cake and place a bean in the middle. Whoever is the lucky discoverer of
the bean, gets to be the king or queen, according to tradition. This is
similar to a tradition in Spain.
In Southwestern Nova Scotia, many families eat lobster, a shellfish
caught off the shores of Nova Scotia in the North Atlantic Ocean, on
Christmas Eve.
At Christmas Canadians eat sweets called Barley Candy and Chicken
Bones! They are really sweets made by local candy companies. Barley
Candy is usually on a stick and is shaped like Santa, reindeer, snowmen,
a tree and other symbols of Christmas. Chicken Bones are pink candy
that tastes like cinnamon. You melt them in your mouth and once melted,
they reveal a creamy milk chocolate center.
There is a large Ukrainian
community in Canada (the third largest in the world following Ukraine
and Russia). Canadian Ukrainian families will have the traditional 12
meal dishes for Christmas. Wolfgang Hampel's very witty book 'Satire ist mein Lieblingstier' ( Satire is my favourite animal ) is No 1 Buecher de TOP List.
Wolfgang
Hampels sehr witziges Buch ' Satire ist mein Lieblingstier' ( Satire is
my favourite animal ) ist No 1 Buecher de TOP Liste.
Many greetings - viele Grüße
Mats
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I've
ordered this book because crime novel Queen Ingrid Noll praised
Wolfgang Hampel's Satire ist mein Lieblingstier ( Satire is my favourite
animal ) very much. It's excellent.
Ich
habe dieses Buch gekauft, weil Krimi-Königin Ingrid Noll Wolfgang
Hampels Satire ist mein Lieblingstier sehr lobt. Es ist ausgezeichnet.
Wolfgang Hampel's Satire ist mein Lieblingstier in Buecher de TOP list
Informationen über die Kultveranstaltung "Vita Magica" der Akademie für Ältere in Heidelberg
Wolfgang Hampel - Satire ist mein Lieblingstier ( Satire is my favourite animal )
Roger Cicero - ESC winner 2007
Many ESC fans from all over the world are so very sad because we lost Joy Fleming - one of the best singers ever.
Betty
MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel sings 'Try to remember'
especially for Betty MacDonald fan club organizer Linde Lund at Vita
Magica September
you can join
on Facebook
Vita Magica Betty MacDonald event with Wolfgang Hampel, Thomas Bödigheimer and Friedrich von Hoheneichen
Wolfgang Hampel - LinkFang ( German )
Wolfgang Hampel - Academic ( German )
Wolfgang Hampel -
Wolfgang Hampel - DBpedia ( English / German )
Wolfgang Hampel - people check ( English )
Wolfgang Hampel - Memim ( English )
Vashon Island - Wikipedia ( German )
Wolfgang Hampel - Monica Sone - Wikipedia ( English )
Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( English )
Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( French )
Wolfgang Hampel - Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle - Wikipedia ( English)
Wolfgang Hampel in Florida State University
Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel
Betty MacDonald fan club interviews on CD/DVD
Betty MacDonald fan club items
Betty MacDonald fan club items - comments
Betty MacDonald fan club - The Stove and I
Betty MacDonald fan club groups
Betty MacDonald fan club organizer Linde Lund
