If this is your first time spending the holiday season in Australia, you might find it looks and feels pretty different to other places around the world.
op culture would have us believe that the perfect Christmas season can only be achieved if the ground is covered in snow and you’re full up to your eyeballs with hot drinks and roast dinners. While that does sound pretty nice, there’s something to be said for a summer Christmas and the perks that come with it (like barbeques, beach days and summer evenings that never seem to end).
The end of the year in Australia is a hodgepodge of global traditions mixed with a unique Aussie twist. Here’s your guide to decoding the Aussie holiday season.
Christmas is hot (usually)
Although it stands to reason that if countries in the northern hemisphere have a cold Christmas, those of us in the south are likely going to have a hot one, it still seems to come as the biggest surprise to visitors experiencing an Aussie Christmas for the first time.
Because of the heat, the traditional Christmas roasts are often swapped out for cold ham, prawn cocktails, potato salad and quite probably a Coles rolled-turkey roast that nobody really wants to eat but that seems wrong not to have (but also served cold). Dessert is almost always going to include a pavlova (an egg white, sugar and cream-based dessert topped with seasonal fruits) and will hopefully be followed up with somebody’s box of Cadbury’s Favourites that they’ve just unwrapped.
We still have Santa (but he might be wearing boardies)
If you’re a kid at heart, you might be panicking about where Santa fits into the Aussie Christmas scene. There’s no need to worry, we love Santa in Australia, but depending on where you’re living, he might pop up in a way you’re not expecting. While most city shopping centres across the country still host your classic red-coated, full-bearded Santa for family photos and Christmas wishes, some of our smaller towns might have their own twist on St Nick.
It’s not uncommon for regional volunteer fire services to help Santa make his way around in the days before Christmas. There’s nothing quite like hearing the procession of fire engines – full sirens and all – winding their way through the suburban streets in the middle of summer and keeping your fingers crossed that it’s Santa and his helpers throwing out lollies and not another spot fire that’s popped up overnight.
A lot of our Santa-based decorations look a little different, too. Santa figurines donning flowery boardshorts, sunnies and a surfboard are an Aussie favourite, or the classic sleigh being pulled by a mob of kangaroos.
Outdoor festivities
Since the weather is warm, many of our Christmas traditions take place outdoors. Carols by Candlelight events are especially popular, but rather than being held in a church or community centre as they often are in the northern parts of the world, they’re usually held in parks, by the beach or on sporting ovals.
Many Aussie families will spend Christmas Day itself outside too, in some way or another. Whether it’s an all-day family ‘lunch’ hosted on Nan’s wrap-around porch, followed by a backyard cricket tournament between the cousins, or a quiet Christmas morning at home after a sunrise dip in the ocean, it’s pretty rare to spend much of the big day inside
Is anything open?
Back in the day, you’d be hard pressed to find anything open on Christmas Day, but these days it’s really only the major chain stores and supermarkets that shut their doors. You’ll often find the local corner shops are open for at least part of the day, and it’s getting more and more common for people to forgo the mess at home and go out for Christmas lunch instead, so a lot of eateries are staying open too. That being said, we wouldn’t recommend leaving any of your essential shopping for Christmas Day – it’s best to check what’s going to be open around you prior to the day itself.
