Unusual Christmas traditions from around the world

From Bad Santa in Austria to Finland's Steamy Sauna, here are five unusual Christmas traditions from around the world that will surely take you by surprise.

Updated on: Dec 24, 2022 3:35 PM IST

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A lot of us have grown up seeing Christmas as a festival that is all about decorated streets and houses, scrumptious meals, carols, family gatherings and all things happy but there are several unusual traditions revolving around this festival that will drop your jaws.  (Unsplash)

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Roller Skate Mass - Caracas: In Caracas, Venezuela's capital, city dwellers mass on roller skates on Christmas morning.  (Unsplash)

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Bad Santa - Austria: Krampus is the bad version of Santa in Germany and Austria. He is the evil accomplice of St Nicholas who comes just before Christmas and wanders the streets in search of badly behaved children.  (Unsplash)

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A Cobweb Christmas - Ukraine: In Ukraine, people use decorations that mimic the natural formation of spiders' webs shimmering with dew instead of baubles, tinsel and stars. The tradition dates back to a folktale about a poor widow who could not afford decorations for her children.  (Unsplash)

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Pickle in the Tree - Germany: In German households, adults hide a pickle somewhere within the branches of the Christmas tree and reward the kid who finds it.  (Unsplash)

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Festive Sauna - Finland: Several homes in Finland have their own saunas. There is a Christmas tradition in Finland where one has to strip naked and take a long and respectful stint in the sauna which is considered a sacred space associated with long-dead ancestors.  (Unsplash)