Christmas Eve- December 24th

In England less emphasis is placed on Christmas Eve than in other countries, much more is made
of Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Carol singing, midnight church services and going out to the pub
are some of the activities that many families enjoy (sometimes all three activities can be combined
into one fun night out!).
Night time on Christmas Eve though is a very exciting time for young children. It is the time when
Santa or Father Christmas comes. They hang up their stockings and go to sleep. Santa and his
elves make all the toys for Christmas in his home in Greenland. On Christmas Eve he piles all of the
toys onto his sleigh and rides across the sky with his 9 reindeer (Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen,
Comet, Cupid, Donner (or it may be Donder), Blitzen and of course ... Rudolf!). The most famous
one is Rudolf the who is always the one at the front, to lead the way with his red nose. In the
morning when the children wake up they open their stocking presents. Traditionally on Christmas
Eve mince pies and sherry (or milk) are left out for Santa and nowadays carrots are left for his
reindeer. Most children are in bed way before midnight waiting for Santa to visit.

Christmas Dinner
Around Victorian times another traditional Christmas feast was roasted goose or roasted
turkey. In Victorian times, most Londoners would have been familiar with the "goose club",
which was a method of saving to buy a goose for Christmas. Goose clubs were popular
with working-class Londoners, who paid a few pence a week towards the purchase of a
Christmas goose. The week before Christmas, London meat markets were crammed with
geese and turkeys, many imported from Germany and France, although some were raised
in Norfolk, and taken to market in London. The birds were walked from Norfolk to the
markets in London, to protect their feet the turkeys were dressed in boots made of sacking
or leather and geese had their feet protected with a covering of tar. The traditional
Christmas goose was featured in Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol'.
Nowadays, if you sit down with a typical British family on Christmas day, the starter is
probably going to be prawns or smoked salmon. The main course is more than likely to be
turkey, often free-range and the bigger the better, although goose has been making a bit of
a comeback, and for the vegetarian in the family (there's always one) a nut roast, this is
normally served with potatoes (roasted, boiled, mashed, or maybe all three), vegetables
(including the devil's veg - brussel sprouts) roasted parsnips, and stuffing with gravy and
bread sauce. This is usually followed by Christmas pudding; a rich fruit pudding served with
brandy sauce or brandy butter.

Christmas Crackers
Christmas Crackers have been a part of the traditional British Christmas since1847, when almost by
accident, Tom Smith invented the cracker. They are used to decorate the table at dinner.
In it's simple form a cracker is a small cardboard tube covered in a brightly coloured twist of paper.
When the cracker is 'pulled' by two people, each holding one end of the twisted paper, the friction
creates a small explosive 'pop' produced by a narrow strip of chemically impregnated paper. Inside
the cracker there is usually a tissue paper hat, a balloon, a slip of paper with a very corny joke on it
(for example: "What does Santa call his blind reindeer?" "No-eye-deer!" and a small gift (usually a
little cheap plastic thing e.g. a plastic ring or nail clippers).
The family will pull each other's crackers before the meal starts, this often involves crossing arms
and pulling two crackers at once. The person who gets the "big end" keeps the plastic trinket. The
paper hats are donned, and the jokes read out, accompanied by moans and groans at how awful
they are. Then, and only then, can the meal begin.
Boxing day

Boxing Day is a holiday traditionally celebrated the day following Christmas Day, when
servants and tradespeople would receive gifts, known as a "Christmas box", from their
bosses or employers. Today, Boxing Day is the bank holiday that generally takes place on
26 December. In the UK, Canada, and some states of Australia, Boxing Day is primarily
known as a shopping holiday, much like Black Friday (the day afterThanksgiving) in the US.
Boxing Day sales are common in Canada. It is a time where shops have sales, often with
dramatic price reductions. For many merchants, Boxing Day has become the day of the
year with the greatest amount of returns. In the UK in 2009 it was estimated that up to 12
million shoppers appeared at the sales. In the United Kingdom, it is traditional for
the Premier League (England), Scottish Premiership (Scotland) and NIFL
Premiership (Northern Ireland), as well as the lower divisions and rugby leagues, to hold a
full programme of football and rugby league matches on Boxing Day. Boxing Day is one of
the main days in the hunting calendar for hunts in the UK, with most hunts, holding meets,
often in town or village centres