Unveiling The Diversity Of Christmas Celebrations In The USA

Christmas celebrations are a Christian holiday that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ on December 25th. Like most people around the world, Americans have their own unique Christmas celebration customs and traditions, and they’ve evolved a lot over the years.

Today, most Americans mix religious and non-religious traditions with their family customs, often including food, decorations, and rituals from places where they or their family used to live. Turkey and ham are the go-to dishes for Christmas dinner all over the US, but if you’re from a certain area, you might also want to try some tamales, a roast goose, a red cabbage dinner, a crawfish dinner, a roast pork dinner, or a seafood salad with “seven fishes” on it.

In Southwest, on Christmas Eve, you can see luminarias—lanterns made out of brown paper bags filled with sand and lit by a candle. Lots of Mexican Americans are celebrating Las Posadas. It’s a procession that celebrates Mary and Joseph’s journey to find a place to sleep in Bethlehem.

Swedes celebrate St. Lucia, and there’s even a parranda in Puerto Rico where people go from house to house singing traditional songs and waking up their neighbors with their music.

Development Of The American Christmas

The Puritans in New England didn’t like noisy Christmas celebrations. The Massachusetts colonists briefly outlawed Christmas in 1659, but it was still celebrated in many parts of New England, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere in British North America. People dressed up as Santa Claus and went door-to-door, selling food and drinks. Christmas was still a workday in most of these areas.

Christmas has come a long way since the 19th century, when people started buying presents for babies and toddlers. This practice of “Christmas shopping” started to become more and more important financially.

Christmas trees are credited with starting in Germany in the sixteenth century. According to legend, Martin Luther was the first person to light candles on a tree. He was a Protestant reformer who wanted to remind his kids of the miracles of God’s creation. In the 1800s, Christmas trees were popular in the UK and the US.

Nowadays, most people buy a new evergreen tree, or a recycled aluminum and plastic one, and put up some lights and decorations. In some households, gifts show up under the tree on Christmas morning, either put there by family members or, like little kids, delivered by Santa after he lands his sleigh and reindeer on the roof and climbs down the chimney.

When Christmas Starts In The USA

Thanksgiving is the biggest holiday in the US, and it’s the start of the Christmas season. It starts on November 4th.

Christmas Celebrations and music start right after Halloween and end on the first day of the new year. So if you’re thinking of coming to the US for Christmas, you can experience the Christmas spirit all month long!

Best Places To Visit For Christmas In The US

New York

If you’re looking for the perfect Christmas getaway, New York City is the place to be! One of the best things about the city is the amazing ice rink at Rockefeller Center, right in front of the famous Christmas tree.

New Year’s Eve usually sees over a million people flock to Times Square to watch the fireworks start at midnight.

Las Vegas

If you’re visiting Las Vegas for Christmas celebrations, you will want to take advantage of it! It’s one of the best places in the southwest U.S. to spend the holiday season, with all the resorts and shopping centers vying for the best decorations.

On the city’s main streets, you’ll find gardens festooned with decorations, like the Bellagio. Not only can one enjoy a plethora of Christmas food and drinks in the specially set-up tents, but there are also a ton of Christmas shows to experience.

It’s the perfect time of year for Christmas in San Francisco! The city’s hills are ablaze with lights, and you can check out the city’s fairs, displays, and Christmas shows, all of which take place in November.

You can go ice skating, check out the Christmas lights, and visit the 10,000-pound gingerbread house—you’ll want to eat it!

Chicago

In Chicago, Christmas celebrations are great, and the city’s most prestigious commercial street, the Magnificent Mile, is decked out with over a million lights.

There’s a huge Christmas tree in the middle of town, and you can ice skate at the Cloud Gate rink.

Boston

Christmas is a big deal in Boston, and it’s celebrated all over the city’s streets with big Christmas trees, like the one on Boston Common, which was built in 1634.

If you’re in the area, you should check out the 7-minute blink, which uses over 35,000 LED lights to brighten up the night sky to the tune of most Christmas carols.

You can also learn about the Top 10 Christmas Destinations Around The World in our article.