Christmas traditions

Christmas traditions vary from country to country. Christmas celebrations for many nations include the installing and lighting of Christmas trees, the hanging of Advent wreaths, , candy canes, and the creation of Nativity scenes depicting the birth of Jesus Christ. Christmas carols may be sung and stories told about such figures as the Baby Jesus, St Nicholas, Santa Claus, Father Christmas, Christkind or Grandfather Frost. The sending and exchange of Christmas card greetings, observance of fasting and special religious observances such as a midnight Mass or Vespers on Christmas Eve, the burning of a Yule log, and the giving and receiving of presents. Along with Easter, Christmas is one of the most important periods on the Christian calendar, and is often closely connected to other holidays at this time of year, such as Advent, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, St Nicholas Day, St. Stephen's Day, New Year's, and the Feast of the Epiphany.

Christmas Day is a public holiday in Eritrea that is celebrated on January 7 or on 27 Tahsas of the Ethiopian calendar. Christmas is called Ledet (ልደት) in Eritrea or Gena (ገና) in Ethiopia. Many people who are Christian in the two countries fast for 40 days (it is called fast of the prophets). They then head to church at dawn on Christmas morning. On Christmas Day, there will be colorful musical celebrations which involve the priests dressed in their best robes performing rituals, including dancing and playing drums and other instruments. Early in the morning at dawn, everyone dresses in white and head to the nearby church. Late in the afternoon there will be the traditional game of Gena, a kind of hockey. According to an Ethiopian legend, the game was being played by the shepherds who were tending their flocks on the night that Jesus was born. The game is attended by the leader of the community. A prize is awarded to the winner of the Gena game. Most Ethiopians don a traditional Shamma, a thin, white cotton wrap with brightly colored stripes across the ends.The holiday is followed up by the three-day festival Timkat starting on January 19 and celebrating the baptism of Jesus Christ.

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