How to celebrate a Canadian style Christmas
To celebrate a Canadian style Christmas you must have an open attitude towards celebrating the season full of diverse festivities because Canada is a melting pot of several cultures. Mostly, Canadian Christmas celebrations are similar to the American one. Eskimos celebrate a big winter festival called Sinck Tuck where they dance, have parties and exchange gifts while highlanders of Scottish descent in Nova Scotia sing British songs and carols on Christmas morning. The way to celebrate Canadian Christmas is to let go and allow the influence of various cultures to affect your celebration.
A few suggestions
- Infuse the festivities with a French style celebration and have a crèche display or a Nativity scene depicting plaster figures of Jesus, Mary and Joseph.
- Give the children in lighted candles pushed into hollowed out turnips as is done in Labrador. If the turnips have been saved from the summer harvest it will add to the authenticity.
- Go from door to door, making rude noises, ringing bells and asking for candy or other treats. If the hosts correctly guess who the mummers (people wearing masks) are, then remove your disguise and confess.
- By way of Christmas dinner serve tourtiere or pork pies and the popular Christmas traditional food, Boulettes (small meatballs).
- Attend the traditional Christmas banquet known as ‘Reveillon’ that is generally held at midnight after all the usual religious festivities are over. This banquet is bountiful and includes, among other things, roast turkey, vegetables and sauces.
- Prepare fresh or smoked salmon as an accompaniment to the Christmas turkey like it is done in British Columbia.
- End the lavish feast with rich and fruity Christmas pudding with brandy sauce (served as desserts) followed by mince pies and dried fruits and nuts.
Do’s
- Remember to follow your own family traditions and only include those Canadian traditions that you can easily adopt.
Don’ts
- Don’t try to copy everything because you will end up confusing yourself and consequently not have any fun.