The best (and weirdest) Christmas traditions from across the globe.

As you may have noticed, at Longsands we love learning about what happens around the world and a big one, is of course, Christmas.

Let’s start with the most horrifying; the Festive Fiend in Austria aka Krampus is Santa’s evil accomplice. He’s a demon like creature that punishes the bad children and (it gets worse!) grown men will wander the streets dressed up as him, giving the kids a scare. If that doesn’t make your child behave, nothing will!

Remember a Christmas Carol? Well in Portugal they celebrate consoda which means they set an extra place for deceased relatives. This is thought to bring good luck to the household for the coming year – and it’s a sweet way of remembering loved ones at Christmas.

Little bit Halloween-y this one; Norwegians believe that Christmas Eve coincides with the arrival of evil spirits and witches. Yeah…so what they do is they hide all broomsticks before they go to sleep. We’d love to know where this tradition comes from so if anyone knows – drop us a comment.

In Sweden and Norway they celebrate the tradition of Julbock/Julebukk. This custom has origins from the worship of Thor who was said to ride a chariot pulled by two goats. There is a giant Yule Goat in Sweden called the Gävle goat – and it’s pretty awesome.

German children are encouraged to leave a boot/shoe outside their bedroom door from the evening of December 5^th – if they’ve been good it will have a branch with sweets on it. If they’ve been naughty, however, they’ll just have a branch. Little bit depressing!

Again in Germany, a fair haired girl will be annointed Christkindl (Christ Child), and she will wear a crown of candles and visit homes with a basket of presents – adorable.

Even Krampus couldn’t ruin the festive mood at Longsands HQ!

Can you spot Krampus?