Unusual Christmas traditions from different countries

The most common things of this holiday period are the Christmas tree, Santa Claus and gifts. But what about radish, goats, lanterns and Yule lads? Have you heard about how people celebrate Christmas in other countries? There are some interesting and strange traditions.

The **Yule Goat **is a Christmas symbol in Sweden. The massive, about 13 meters (42.6 feet) high straw goat is placed on the Castle Square of Swedish town Gävle from the first Sunday of Advent every year.

Here is a webcam that shows him day and night.

In the **Philippines **the Saturday before Christmas a Giant Lantern Festival is held. The lantern is a symbol of the Bethlehem star that led the wise men to baby Jesus. Check out in this video how does it looks like. Dance along with this music and light show!

In Iceland besides Santa Claus there are 13 trolls called yule lads. They wander around the country before Christmas and visit the kids who leave shoes in their bedroom window. The good kids will find presents in the shoes, while naughty ones – only rotting potatoes.

Color this funny Yule lads and learn more about their characters from this picture.

A unique and strange tradition is a radish carving competition in Oaxaca, Mexico, the day before Christmas. It is called the Night of the radishes. The sculptures look very unusual and the creativity of their creators is just fantastic! Just have a look!

And Italian kids receive their gifts twice: on Christmas from Santa and then 12 days later, on the eve of the Epiphany, from La Befana. La Befana is a witch who missed the birth of Christ and was so sad about it that she decided to spend every Christmas time gliding around the country searching for Baby Jesus. She feels the stockings of good children with toys and sweets and with coal – of bad ones.

In Urbania, Italy, they even hold La Befana parade. People dress up like Befana, walk, dance and have fun. Visit the parade right now, watching this video.

Which tradition did you like most? What country would you like to visit on Christmas time?