Southerners have had a love affair with everything French for hundreds of years, from their language to their culture and customs. If you're interested in switching up your holiday season, the French practice several interesting holiday traditions that could translate easily into Southern homes.
For example, Christmas in France is a longitudinal affair stretching out weeks rather than the traditional American 48-hour emphasis. This aligns well with the American Christmas fanaticism—we start singing carols before Thanksgiving. In France, it is common to start the holiday season on December 6, and the season can continue as late as January 6.
The French also celebrate a traditional feast on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. Le Réveillon is believed to be an opportunity to bring prosperity to the family, and luxury foods—think oysters, foie gras and even lobster—and wines are enjoyed. Wine selections are usually the best available, and champagne is almost always served. The feast begins very late in the evening, often an hour before midnight, with both parents and children staying up to enjoy it. Different French-speaking countries and areas have varying traditions concerning who exactly is invited to attend. Some invite only immediate family while some invite distant relatives. And in some parts of France, invitations are extended to anyone that can fit at the table!
French holiday traditions carry the distinct influence of its Catholic history. In fact, the French have a calendar where every single day corresponds to a single Saint. Christmas is an opportunity to celebrate St. Nicholas, who, according to French lore, rescued three children from an evil butcher known as Le Père Fouettard.
The concept of duality, naughty and nice, and good versus evil is thematic across much of central Europe with Krampus being a better-known antithesis to the good St. Nick. Such characters might prove more entertaining to American adults rather than children who have grown accustomed to the idea of a jolly Santa Claus.
However, children might take delight in the French custom of setting shoes outside the front door and waking up to find them full of presents if they have been good. Those who have been bad receive twigs in their shoes rather than the American standard of lumps of coal.
The focus on St. Nicholas begins to fade as one travels further north in Europe. In Sweden and Norway, for example, there is a much greater emphasis on St. Lucia, rather than on St. Nicholas. According to the story of St. Lucia in those countries, a girl from a wealthy or noble home donned a crown of garland adorned with four candles to light her way during the dark Scandinavian winter as she visited homes of the poor distributing bread or baked goods. This practice is replicated in Sweden and Norway as young girls put on white dresses and are crowned in the ceremonial headdress. The concept of charity during the holidays is not new to Americans, but a female-oriented Christmas would be a radical reinvention of the holiday.
Transplanted European traditions are an excellent way to reshape and reinvent holiday classics, as well as provide some novelty and fun to the after-hours party when the children are asleep in hopes that St. Nick will soon be there.