In New Zealand Christmas comes in the middle of the summer holidays. Many people tend to spend their holidays on the beach or at their Baches (holiday homes).

Many places also hold a Santa parade that consists of decorated floats, bands, and marching teams. The largest of these parades is known as the Auckland Santa Parade.

Santa is sometimes seen wearing ‘jandals’.

Children leave out carrots for Santa’s reindeer and Santa is left a beer and pineapple chunks.

Throughout the country big Christmas light shows and displays can be viewed.

The special Christmas tree in New Zealand is known as the Pohutukawa. These grow on the North Island where they flower from mid December until around the 2nd week of January.

Christmas is often celebrated with a barbeque for lunch. These usually contain slices of ham or venison, shrimps, and other fish. White bait fritters and Christmas crackers are also popular. For desserts, the tradition usually serves cold sweets.

People open their presents on Christmas day when their whole family is together. A quite popular gift is jandals which are similar to flip flops.

Traditional Christmas colors: red, white and green take on a whole different meaning for the people of New Zealand. Red symbolizes the bright red flowers of the Pohutukawa tree, green symbolizes the tropical foliage that blooms in the Summer, and white symbolizes the sandy beach on which Christmas is often celebrated.

New Zealand has their own special Christmas carols. One of these carols, The Southern Cross Looks Down, is based on the constellation of the Southern Cross. This is New Zealand’s version of the star that guided the magi to Bethlehem on their journey to visit baby Jesus.

The nation’s national bird is often the decoration of the tree tops.

Christmas Around the World: Santa in Sandals

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