Australians often celebrate Christmas Day by enjoying a Christmas lunch or dinner with their closest family and friends. The meal usually consists of a selection of hot and cold dishes, including fresh seafood.
Carols by Candlelight is a tradition that started in Melbourne in 1938 and has since spread around Australia and the world. At the event people gather on Christmas Eve, usually outdoors, to sing carols by candlelight in a large-scale concert style event.
Some Australians celebrate Christmas on the beach. People decorate their homes with lights, trees, and ornaments. Australians decorate with Christmas Bush, a native Australian tree. On Christmas Eve, there are many “Carols by Candlelight” services where people get together and sing while holding candles.
As Christmas occurs during summertime in Australia, cold options including seafood are very popular for Christmas, especially prawns by the kilo! In fact, feasting on seafood is such a big deal that many of the fish markets open for extended hours, even overnight, during the couple of days before Christmas.
Australians hang Christmas wreaths on their doors and decorate their houses and gardens with Christmas trees and lights. They also decorate their houses with bunches of Christmas bush, a native Australian tree with small green leaves and cream colored flowers that turn a deep shiny red by Christmas.
People play cricket anywhere, at the beach, park, street, and backyard, either while Christmas lunch/dinner is cooking or after their meal. As a huge Christmas tradition in Australia, Carols by Candlelight is held all over the country in the weeks leading up to Christmas.
Australian Christmas traditions
Australians love to celebrate, and Christmas is no exception. As well as exchanging gifts, families tend to enjoy big lunches with all the trimmings. Since it's summer, barbecues and outdoor games such as cricket are popular. You will also find many Aussies around pools or at the beach.
Frequently Asked Questions About Christmas In Australia
What is Santa Claus called in Australia? These days most Australians call Atnas (his real name) “Santa”.
Santa is known as 'Sheng dan Lao ren' in Mandarin, which translates as 'Christmas Old Man', and he is seen as a non-religious figure who lives in a fairytale Arctic Christmas Village in China's North Pole.
If you've never lived in the Southern Hemisphere before, the Christmas weather will come as a shock! Rather than snowfall, expect blistering sun — Australians often flock to the beach or pool during the Christmas break.
Because of the seasonal changes in December in Australia compared to other parts of the country, Christmas is celebrated differently. So instead of being huddled by the fire, drinking hot chocolate, Australians head to the beach or have a day outside in the sun.
The children in Australia believe in Santa Claus. However, since it is summer, it would not be unusual to see Santa dressed in a lighter, cooler version of his red and white suit. Shorts can even be seen! Santa does use reindeer to pull his sleigh when delivering gifts to children in Australia.
Families decorate their homes with ferns, palm leaves and evergreens, along with the colorful flowers that bloom in summer called Christmas bush and Christmas bellflower. Some families put up a Christmas tree. Outdoors, nasturtiums, wisteria and honeysuckle bloom.
In England and Australia, you'll often hear Happy Christmas, but in the US and Canada, Merry is the star of the show.
Gift giving is one of the most beloved traditions of Christmas (especially for children) and it goes back to when the Three Wise Men offered gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to baby Jesus in the manger. Gifts are usually placed under the Christmas tree or within stockings in festive patterns.
Pavlova, the velvety, creamy dessert made from crispy meringue shells topped with whipped cream and fruit, is the quintessential Aussie. Despite originating from New Zealand, Pavlovas are synonymous with Australia's holiday feast, as much as shrimp on the barbecue.
Australian children set out cookies for Santa, but instead of milk, they leave him an ice-cold glass of beer. After all, December is summer in the land Down Under. The children leave carrots for Santa's reindeer to munch on, too.
The shoe known in Australia as a "thong" is one of the oldest styles of footwear in the world. Worn with small variations across Egypt, Rome, Greece, sub-Saharan Africa, India, China, Korea, Japan and some Latin American cultures, the shoe was designed to protect the sole while keeping the top of the foot cool.
Decorations: Much like us, Australians will decorate their homes with Christmas trees (though often not real ones), lights, and hanging wreaths on their front doors.
The most common verbal greeting is a simple “Hey”, “Hello”, or “Hi”. Some people may use Australian slang and say “G'day” or “G'day mate”. However, this is less common in cities. Many Australians greet by saying “Hey, how are you?”.
In China, Christmas has not always been a publicly celebrated religious holiday. However, as China becomes more global, it has started to welcome a commercialized version of Christmas, known as "Sheng Dan Jieh" or the "Holy Birth Festival," with both religious and secular Chinese Christmas traditions.
This is because of the tilt of the earth. Australia is situated in the southern hemisphere and during the month of December, there will be the summer season in the southern hemisphere and the winter season in the northern hemisphere.