Holiday Celebrations

Holiday Celebrations

By: Madilyn Mendiola (8)

It’s winter time and you’re celebrating the holidays with your friends. As you walk into their house, you see blue and silver tinsel, blue stars, and a candle holder with nine candlesticks…wait, that’s not Christmas?

Traditional Traditions

When winter comes around, many people start to bring up Christmas. People begin to put up their tree, hang their stockings, and make cookies for Santa. Even though Christmas is one of the major holidays and the traditions that come along with it are very popular, it isn’t the only one celebrated during winter. There are many incredible holidays and traditions that not many people know about, but this year can be the year that changes that.

Hanukkah Traditions

One of the second most popular holidays celebrated during winter is Hanukkah. Hanukkah is an 8 day Jewish festival that takes place from December 16th to December 18th this year. During Hanukkah, families gather each night to light one candle on the menorah. Each candle of the menorah symbolizes the number of days that the Temple lantern blazed and the ninth, the shamash, is a helper candle used to light the others. During the Hanukkah holiday, families eat latkes (potato pancakes), sufganiyot (round jelly doughnuts), and other foods to celebrate the miracle of the Festival of Lights.

Kwanzaa Traditions

On December 26th another special holiday begins called Kwanzaa. Kwanzaa is an annual celebration of African-American culture that takes place from December 26th to January 1st. Kwanzaa originated in 1966. It was created by activist Maulana Karenga. It is based on African harvest festival traditions from various parts of West and Southeast Africa. A big part of Kwanzaa is being with family and sharing with one another. One way they honor that tradition is by cooking and eating food together. Some of the foods they make are rice or couscous, candied yams, buttermilk biscuits and spoonbread, plantains, and fritters. The most important thing is that the meal is shared, as Kwanzaa is at its heart a holiday about community.

An example of a gift exchange with all of the relatives young and old gathered together.

Hispanic Traditions

Even though most people celebrate Christmas some people celebrate the holiday in different ways. Most Hispanic families celebrate and get together on Christmas Eve and then celebrate Christmas Day with their immediate family and stay home. On Christmas Eve, Catholics go to church to attend Midnight Mass. During Midnight Mass, people keep vigil at night which involves joyfully waiting for the arrival of Jesus. Families gather at churches to celebrate this joyous occasion every year. Hispanic families often get together on Christmas Eve and make food together such as tamales, chicken verde, and empanadas. On Christmas Eve it is common for families to open presents from relatives they don’t see and then open presents from parents and Santa on Christmas morning.

Those that don’t Celebrate

One thing most people didn’t know is that some people don’t celebrate any holidays during winter break, but instead they just spend time with their family and friends. 7th grader Samson Harris goes camping with his immediate family or he goes to Houston and stays in a cabin during the holidays. While Samson stays at the cabin, he likes to buy fireworks and set them off even though he does not celebrate New Year’s Eve.

Although people celebrate different holidays all year long that have different traditions, all of these holidays seem to have one thing in common. They all celebrate love and sharing and being together. At the end of the day we all have our differences, but those differences make us more united. So, this year when a friend tells you they’re going to midnight mass or lighting the menorah at their house instead of ignoring it because you don’t celebrate, ask them more about it and get to know more about how they celebrate the holidays.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *