Christmas goes bananas!

A ghost sauna, fireball swinging and a banana festive toast have ranked among the top 20 quirky Christmas traditions in Europe, with three quarters of Brits wanting to try something new for the holidays

• The Tivoli Lucia candlelight procession in Copenhagen, Denmark has been voted as the new experience festive holidaymakers would most like to try
• The list of alternative Christmas traditions was compiled by easyJet and ranked by the British public
• 90% of Brits want to try out a different Christmas tradition to what they usually do at home, while 80% said they’d like to travel abroad for new Christmas experiences
• Other top alternative traditions range from the likes of bellringing in a Swiss Alpine village, a medieval market in France and folklore Krampus Night in Austria.

A special candlelight procession in an historic amusement park in Copenhagen, sharing a sauna with your ancestors in Finland and fireball swinging in Scotland have been revealed as the most popular alternative Christmas traditions to try out during December and the festive period.

Krampus Night, when people dress as an Austrian folklore creature and parade through the streets, bellringing in a Swiss village and a medieval market in France also featured highly in list of alternative Christmas experiences across Europe, as voted for by the British public.  

The survey of 2,000 British holidaymakers by airline easyJet, has revealed a new alternative list of lesser known, Christmas experiences and traditions that can be found throughout Europe.

Nine-in-ten (90%) Brits want to try out a Christmas tradition that is different to those that they usually do at home, while 80% said that, more than ever, they’d like to travel abroad to try out a new Christmas experience, with 76% looking for more adventurous and experiential Christmases. 

Reasons for Brits wanting to try out new Christmas traditions or experiences abroad include making new memories (46%), experiencing different cultures at Christmas (38%) and trying something new with family and loved ones (37%). More than a third (37%) of Brits said they want to shake up their usual Christmas routine.

The special Tivoli Lucia candlelight procession in Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen, is the experience Brits would most like to try out at Christmas. Visiting the 174-year-old amusement park is a popular Christmas tradition for locals, which sees the park illuminated by thousands of fairy lights and tree light shows. When darkness falls over the Gardens the Lucia candlelight Parade passes through the Gardens on one night a year in December.

 A Finnish Christmas Sauna with a ghostly twist ranked in second place. On Christmas Eve it’s traditional for the residents of Finland to have a session in a sauna to connect with departed ancestors. Afterwards, they head outside to celebrate while the spirits of their ancestors take their place in the sauna.

Brits looking for different traditions a little closer to home wanted to try taking part in Fireball Swinging in Stonehaven, Scotland, for their Christmas experience, which came in third place.

The Top 20 Alternative Christmas Traditions Brits want to try out as voted for by British holidaymakers:

1. St Lucia Candlelight Procession Parade, Tivoli (Copenhagen, Denmark) – A special candlelight procession in Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen, as part of their Christmas celebrations. The 174-year-old amusement park is a Christmas tradition for locals. The park is illuminated by thousands of fairy lights and tree light shows. (29%)
2. Christmas Sauna to connect with departed ancestors (Finland) – On Christmas Eve, it’s traditional for the residents of Finland to have a session in the sauna to connect with departed ancestors. Afterwards, they head outside to celebrate while the spirits of their ancestors take their place in the sauna (19%).
3. Fireball swinging (Stonehaven, Scotland) – The Old Town House bell sounds to mark the new year, fireballs are set alight, with the swingers setting off up the High Street, swinging the burning balls around their heads as they go (18%).
4. Provins Medieval Market (France) – A special medieval Christmas market in Provins near Paris, that puts a unique historical twist on traditional festivities with jugglers and fire-eaters as part of the entertainment(18%).
5. St Nicholas Day Parade, Küssnacht am Rigi (Switzerland) – A parade of fourteen hundred boys and men carrying bells and dressed in traditional shepherds outfits walk through the village. They’re followed by others, wearing huge headdresses made of cardboard and coloured tissue paper that are lighted from the inside by candle – looking like a parade of stained-glass windows (17%).
6. Krampus Night (Austria) – In Austrian folklore, Krampus is a creature that will punish naughty children just before Christmas. On December 5th, it’s customary for people dressed as Krampus to parade through the streets(13%).
7. Morcote bell-ringing (Switzerland) – During the nine days before Christmas and on Christmas Eve, the people of Morcote meet in the bell tower in the evening, for eating and drinking, whilst one after another, all the attendees get up, climb a ladder to the church bells, and ring them by hand (13%).
8. The Yule Lads (Iceland) – 13 mischievous troll-like characters visit children in the 13 days leading up to Christmas, leaving gifts or rotting potatoes in shoes, depending on how well they have behaved that year (12%).
9. Bananas in Braga (Portugal) – In Braga’s historical centre, crowds gather at Casa das Bananas, an old store located in Rua do Souto, one of the most important streets in Braga. Here everyone who gathers, has a banana and a glass of Moscatel wine, to chat with friends and strangers and kick off Christmas! (12%).
10. Christmas Pickle (Germany) – Christmas trees in Germany include a particularly unique decoration – a pickled cucumber. It is hidden deep within the branches of the tree on Christmas Eve and the first child to spot it receives a special present (11%).
11. Frau Perchta (Austria and Germany) – Watch out for a witch who roams the countryside during the 12 days of Christmas, rewarding the good and punishing the bad. Perchtenlauf, sees a masked procession take place, full of noise making, fireworks and people, dressed as terrible beasts with large horns. These followers of Perchta, serve to frighten away the cold, evil spirits of winter by out ugly-ing them (11%).
12. St Lucia Day (Sweden) – Celebrated on December 13th, the annual celebration of Lucia in Sweden involves girls and boys clad in white full-length gowns singing songs together and wearing candles in their hair. Saffron buns are eaten as part of the experience (11%).
13. Broom hiding (Norway) – It’s a Christmas Eve tradition to hide brooms and mops to prevent witches and evil spirits from taking them for a ride. According to Norwegian folklore, witches come to houses on Christmas Eve to frighten people and steal brooms to ride (10%).
14. La Befana (Italy) – On January 6th, the Epiphany, La Befana, an old witch, delivers gifts to children, similar to Santa Claus (10%).
15. Il rogo del Vecchione (Bologna, Italy) – On New Year’s Eve in Bologna, an effigy is burned in the Piazza Maggiore to symbolize the end of the old year and the start of the new. The effigy is based on the year’s most notable events (10%).
16. J-Dag (Demark) – J-Dag or J-Day is the day when Tuborg’s classic Julebryg (Christmas beer) is finally released. Joy to the world, the beer has come! The beer, a strong pilsner, becomes available on the first Friday of November and is only for ten weeks of the year in the run-up to Christmas (9%).
17. Kallikantzaroi (Greece) – Mischievous goblins that emerge during the 12 days of Christmas to cause trouble, until they are banished on Epiphany with special ceremonies, festivals and storytelling (9%).
18. Shoe-throwing (Czech Republic) – Single women throw a shoe over their shoulder and out of the front door. If the shoe lands with its toe pointing in the direction of the door then that means they are getting married that coming year! (8%).
19. Caga Tió (Catalonia, Spain) – A wooden log with a painted face that children “feed” in the lead-up to Christmas and then beat with sticks to produce presents on Christmas Eve (7%).
20. Mari Lwyd (Wales) – A tradition where a horse’s skull, decorated and mounted on a pole, is carried door to door. Participants engage in a battle of rhymes with the householders (6%).

easyJet’s new ‘Alternative Christmas Traditions’ list could provide helpful inspiration to over three-quarters (79%) of Brits who say that their new festive tradition is simply trying something new.

Four in five (81%) of those polled think that Christmas is the best time of year to go and experience something new. When it comes to Christmas traditions abroad, 85% of Brits think that a unique or alternative Christmas tradition is more appealing to experience if they knew no one else had experienced it.

The appetite to explore further afield for Christmas proved strong across generations, with three-quarters (75%) of over-65s polled keen to visit somewhere new for a Christmas or winter break, which jumps to 93% for Gen Z and Millennials.

84% of Brits would like to travel abroad to experience a Christmas tradition in a European country at least once in their lifetimes.

63% of us, which rises to 86% of Gen Z, would be more likely to want to go and experience a Christmas tradition if they had seen it on TikTok or Instagram.

Overall, when travelling abroad for the winter holidays, Brits would most like to go on a city break for the festive climate and Christmas markets (49%), visit new countries to try out new experiences and traditions (45%) or just to something new entirely (41%). 

Over a quarter of Brits polled (27%) want to go abroad at this time of year to chase the winter sun and nearly a third (32%) of those who do go away over the holidays like to spend it visiting family and friends.

The list, packed full of unique celebrations, off-the-beaten track winter experiences and quirky Christmas traditions, was voted on by the British public.

Sophie Dekkers, easyJet’s Chief Commercial Officer, said:

“The festive season offers a fantastic opportunity for friends, and family to get together for the holidays to celebrate old traditions or discover new ones.  

“We hope this list helps inspire both seasoned travellers as well as first-time visitors to explore more of the places they love or visit a new destination and experience its unique customs first hand.

“This winter we’ve launched over 41 new routes offering amazing choice to our customers, from seeing the dazzling Northern Lights in Tromso, to skiing in the Alps via Innsbruck or lounging in the sun in Luxor. With hundreds of destinations, we have something to provide festive cheer for everyone this Christmas, no matter where they fly.”