Discover 8+ Extraordinary Holiday Traditions Celebrated Globally

4. The Christmas Journal

Where: Spain
Expense: Spain
Around the start of the Christmas season, Caga Tio appears in markets in Catalonia, Spain. His drawn-on face, jaunty red hat, and broad smile make him easy to spot. However, there is a very special mystery in this Christmas log.

He poops nougats. Children feed the log candy and chocolates from December 8 through December 24 by leaving food in front of him at night. The meal is gone and the log has “grown” when they awaken in the morning. The children who “fed” Caga Tio throughout the month are delighted when he “poops” out the candy on Christmas Eve.

5. Snowmen on fire

Where: Switzerland
Attendance is free of charge.
And what better way to mark the end of winter than with a snowman blowing up? Because of the Sechselauten tradition, it is how they do things in Switzerland.This is a customary celebration celebrated in the springtime. A Boogg (snowman) is loaded with explosives and positioned atop a spike.

He’s lighting up, indicating that a rapid explosion will bring dry, sunny summer weather. But summer will be wet if the explosion does not happen soon. This is essentially “Groundhog Day” in America, only much more thrilling.

6. On New Year’s Eve, tossing water buckets

Where: Cuba
Price: $0*
Cuban households observe a significant custom on Saint Sylvester’s Day, which is essentially New Year’s Eve. To wash out the negative from the previous year, they precisely toss a pail of water out the door at midnight.

New Year’s Eve Water Bucket Throwing
As the New Year draws near, this clears the air. Participation in the practice is believed to bring good fortune. Unless, that is, you happen to be strolling by at that same moment and be hit by a bucket of icy water by accident.

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