Christmas Around the World, Part 1 - New Zealand

The Advent season has arrived, which can mean only one thing – it’s time to kick off our annual trip around the world to explore Christmas traditions from different countries! This year’s journey begins in New Zealand, where Earth’s rotation gives Christmas a whole new spin.

Many Americans consider Christmas the quintessential winter holiday, but down in the Southern Hemisphere, it’s summer! For those of us who live in Arizona, it’s a little closer to our experience than the “winter wonderland” we sing about each year. The warm weather brings with it a host of unique holiday traditions: Christmas carols like “Sticky Beak the Kiwi” and “A Pukeko in a Ponga Tree,” family trips to the beach, and a Santa who wears a rugby jersey, shorts, and “jandals” (what we call flip flops). Summer Santa makes appearances at Santa parades across New Zealand at this time of year – in fact, Auckland’s annual parade happened today – and often enters in spectacular ways, like riding on an elephant or parachuting in from above. He is joined by elves, other holiday characters, and lots of people in festive costumes.

Another unique aspect of New Zealand’s Christmas traditions is the influence of Māori culture. The Māori are the indigenous people of New Zealand. The iconic New Zealand Christmas tree, the crimson-flowered pōhutukawa, is significant within Māori tradition; so is a Christmas meal of hangi, meats and vegetables cooked in an underground pit. Māori language versions of songs like “Silent Night” are also popular at this time of year.

If you’d like to read more about Christmas in New Zealand, check out the NZHistory website. And if your family would like to incorporate some Kiwi traditions into your celebrations, why not put on your own Santa parade? Dress in your most fun Christmas clothing (don’t forget the jandals). Play some of your favorite Kiwi Christmas songs – you can find lyrics, voice recordings, and YouTube links here. Then parade around your neighborhood! Elephants and parachutes are optional. If you don’t have time to dig a hangi in your backyard, you can opt instead to make a yummy pavlova for dessert – this meringue-based fruit pie is a New Zealand specialty (although Australia also claims it, one of the many friendly rivalries between the two countries). Here’s a recipe.

Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram to share your “summer wonderland” experiences. And Meri Kirihimete ki a koutou ko te whānau - Merry Christmas to you and your family!