Essential Sweden: How to navigate Christmas and New Year's traditions
In this week's Essential Sweden article, you get the top articles you need to make it through the Swedish holiday season.
At 3pm on Christmas Eve, Sweden goes quiet. Calls to the emergency services drop. Electricity usage spikes as people turn on their televisions. And everyone sits down to watch Donald Duck.
But what’s behind this tradition, as enduring as it is bizarre?
What does a calm and reserved Swede look like when they’re angry? Try eating the meatballs before the pickled herring and you’ll find out. Here’s more on the important julbord etiquette:
In Sweden, Santa doesn’t slide down the chimney in the quiet of the night. He comes knocking on your door in broad daylight, usually while the father of the house is out buying the newspaper.
Sweden's festive season is a time when even the most well-integrated foreigner can feel like an outsider, miles from home with a set of traditions, recipes, and songs familiar to everyone but you.
Here are some festive phrases to help you feel a bit more at home this Christmas:
Pepparkakor, Sweden's traditional ginger snap biscuits, are a staple of the country's festive season. Food writer John Duxbury shares his favourite recipe with The Local:
Let’s look ahead towards New Year’s Eve and ask ourselves: what’s up with Swedes’ obsession to watch strange television shows at important holidays, ranging from British slapstick to Ivanhoe?
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At 3pm on Christmas Eve, Sweden goes quiet. Calls to the emergency services drop. Electricity usage spikes as people turn on their televisions. And everyone sits down to watch Donald Duck.
But what’s behind this tradition, as enduring as it is bizarre?
What does a calm and reserved Swede look like when they’re angry? Try eating the meatballs before the pickled herring and you’ll find out. Here’s more on the important julbord etiquette:
In Sweden, Santa doesn’t slide down the chimney in the quiet of the night. He comes knocking on your door in broad daylight, usually while the father of the house is out buying the newspaper.
Sweden's festive season is a time when even the most well-integrated foreigner can feel like an outsider, miles from home with a set of traditions, recipes, and songs familiar to everyone but you.
Here are some festive phrases to help you feel a bit more at home this Christmas:
Pepparkakor, Sweden's traditional ginger snap biscuits, are a staple of the country's festive season. Food writer John Duxbury shares his favourite recipe with The Local:
Let’s look ahead towards New Year’s Eve and ask ourselves: what’s up with Swedes’ obsession to watch strange television shows at important holidays, ranging from British slapstick to Ivanhoe?
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