Christmas in Sweden is TOTALLY Different To Anything You've Experienced Before!

[@f99mlu]

Oh, there is a red thread when it comes to eating julbord in Sweden! First the different kinds of pickled herring with eggs, then the salmon with sauces, then "kallskuret" = cold meat, then the warm stuff (prinskorv and köttbullar, ham, brunkål, ...). Then dessert... Rice a la Malta! And theeeeeeeeeen... CANDY! :)

[@mockupguy3577]

Two basic rules: Cold before warm. Fish before meat.

[@AnniCarlsson]

And actually it food for all types there to. I mean if the host pick a food theme you don't like in Britain you kinda have nothing to eat instead.

[@Janusmannen]

Brunkål?! We have rödkål.

[@AnniCarlsson]

@@Janusmannen think it's Skåne that have brunkål

[@brickan2]

@@mockupguy3577 I know right! super simple, someone should have told him while eating julbord!

[@cynic7049]

It may not be a theme but you are supposed to eat it in one order: 1- pickeld herring 2- cold fish (that is not pickeld herring) 3- cold cuts 4- the warm food 5- dessert

[@davidjohansson1416]

Yes it’s more like a 3 course buffet. But i can see how it’s confuzing if you don’t know what’s what. I would agree that midsummer and easter have similar things but I think there is a logic to the food.

[@jockez3581]

Nej! Maybe at a julbord on a restaurant but at home there are no such rules.

[@davidjohansson1416]

@@jockez3581 Ni låter som vildar, hemma hos er.

[@nena5518]

@@jockez3581 I min familj har julbordet till och med dukats upp så. Först med mina farföräldrar när jag var liten och sen med mina föräldrar nu i vuxen ålder. Jag har två syskon och vi är alla gifta. Våra partners har också följt samma ordning i deras familjer sååå... ni kanske är lite annorlunda hemma hos er?

[@jockez3581]

@@nena5518 Jag menade inte att ingen gör så. Det är säkert jättemånga som gör så. Det jag menade var att det varierar från familj till familj. En del lastar på allt som går direkt medan andra har en tydligare ordning. Det finns inga rätt och fel helt enkelt.

[@jenniferb557]

On the 25th it's a big party night at every pub all over sweden. Everyone is out drinking and dancing usually. It's usually done to meet the so called "hemvändare" because people go back to their home towns once a year for Christmas so 24th is for family, 25th is for friends and partying, especially going to bars.

[@RobertClaeson]

Traditionally the 25th was reserved for spending many hours in church. Not so anymore.

[@mockupguy3577]

Hu. I’ve always done it on the 23rd, with a glorious hangover on the 24th.

[@jockez3581]

Older people usually don't go to "krogen" on christmas day. :)

[@jenniferb557]

@@jockez3581 Idk, I'm 32 and me and my friends and all their parents go together, it's tradition

[@IngeBall]

"Every pub all over Sweden" More like shitty Norrland lol

[@sannaolsson9106]

Boardgames on Christmas Eve after dinner and the presents is very much a thing in my family and I know it's common in most Swedish households aswell. So that's a thing we have in common haha. Another difference on the list is Santa. We actually get to meet him when we get our gifts, as opposed yours who you just hear about, right?? It's mostly a member in the family who plays him. My dad was Santa when I was a kid and he was very good actually. He used glue for his beard(grey), used a different dialect, a little makeup, non traditional Santa clothes. He was a little scary. Award winning performance 😆

[@sofieo4851]

I can't see if anyone has mentioned it already but afton means evening and not afternoon, so Christmas Eve and julafton have the same meaning.

[@rrijecanka]

😂😂😂👌

[@professorrhyyt3689]

And encompasses the whole day.

[@messynaturedweller]

Since jul has nothing to do with christianity (christ-mas) so its more like yule eve I'd think.

[@jakoberson4162]

It's true, in Sweden the entire month of december is a time to do a few things differently. For example, in december nobody drinks coca cola, because in december, we drink the traditional soft drink julmust and there is nothing the coca cola company can do about it. The weird tradition of Lucia, where people dress up and get in line to sing specific songs that everybody learns in school, happens every year at december 13th honoring an ancient sicilian saint. The countdown to christmas is also an important custom, starting the advent sundays at least four weeks before christmas eve, when we light candles and eat saffron buns with raisins in them. For the last sixty years, a new advent calendar has been televised every year, often quite large productions with nationally famous actors participating. And of course, also for about sixty years, at 3 pm on christmas eve, the same Donald Duck program will be on TV and if they change the contents of it, it will generate more civic discontent than anything the politicians could ever do.

[@knight73Swe]

Yes like 50% of the swedes turn on the TV at 3pm on christmas eve to look at the christmas host light the christmas candle and then it is ”Kalle Anka och hans vänner” Donald Duck and friends. For like an hour. Then in the evening it is another popular TV program Karl-Bertil Jonssons jul that alot of swedes look but not as many as Kalle .

[@Chihiro33333]

The reason to why Sweden celebrates on the 24th instead of the 25th goes back to the past, when we were an agricultural society, when the end of the day was determined by the sun, and not by the time of a clock. In those days one considered that the day was over when the sun set. When it was dark, you could not continue to work, so the day was over. And by that, consequently, the next day had started. So when the sun set on the 24th of December, that day was over, and Christmas celebrations could start with the Christmas dinner. The tradtion stayed put, and has, through out the years, developed into that we celebrate Christmas all day on the 24th. Not only in the evening after the sunset, as it was before.

[@MartinBagge]

..and that’s where the ”afton” (eve) come in to play.

[@ElizaDolittle]

Italy also celebrates Christmas Eve. When I lived there I often felt like Christmas day was the day after Christmas.

[@Chihiro33333]

@@ElizaDolittle That’s interesting! I did not know that! Thanks for sharing! 😃

[@gnarbeljo8980]

You’re missing the fact that a Swedish feast traditionally is a Smärgåsbord, meaning a buffet of many small dishes including fish , pork, veg and potatodishes and various breads. Just like Midsummer, only for winter you slaughter a pig you’ve been fattening up since spring, so all things made from the pig including trotters, sausages, glazed ham, patés etc are added. And lutfisk, which is bacalao in Portugese, dried white fish cooked in a sortof bread sauce (mainly milk). Sill was part of everyday meals in the past all year round, the main source of fat and protein, differences only in the spices and pickles according to season. So if Turkey is a US thing, Duck a French one, goose in some counties, in Sweden it’s pork and warm fish. Janssons frestelse is just potato with a bit of Swedish tinned anchovies but the added cream and loads of butter make it a luxury back in the day. The cakes, busquits and sweets are all very specific for the holiday, but so is. Christmas pudding and mince pies? Cabbage is a ti g in all northern European countries as it keeps well until late in the season, like winter apples, raisins amd nuts. The cohesive thread is always economy and what’s available in freezing midwinter temperatures,-and that one traditional sacrificial animal (to the winter solstice originally) representing abundance and renewal of life (spring). If you go far back as mideval times and before the sacrifice was a goat. Also the god Thor’s wagon was drawn by two Billy goats and it ised to be the Christmas goat that came with gifts, only in the mid 1900’s was he repalced with Santa Clause. Glögg has it’s counterparts in Britiah mulled wine and Christmas Ales, and American eggnogg with rum or brandy. Only Swedes perhaps have it more often… I agree it makes little sense to celebrate whilst waiting for the birth of the child (who does that?) so that IS weird. But church service on xmas day is at 6 or 7 am not like normal mass, and after gluttony so that may be part of the reason. Lucia is the Swedish version of carollers. But a story in itself.

[@beson5663]

There is an old tradition of going to julotta on Christmas Day. that is, to go to Christmas Mass early on Christmas Day. This tradition is disappearing, but as a child it was magical to get in the sleigh early in the morning and go to church

[@monicacorr6979]

In Romania the holiday begins on the pervious evening, on the 24th, every holiday begins on holiday eve.

[@christopherx7428]

We can tell that you have not grown up in Sweden if you think there is no red thread in how to eat the Christmas table! ;-) I would say that the reason there is so many different kinds of meat is that traditionally you slaughtered a pig for Christmas and of course a lot of that meat was salted so it would keep but it was also a rare opportunity to eat fresh meat and you made the most of it.

[@eh-modo]

Hello Gregg. I totally agree with you there is an awful lot of different foods on a Swedish julbord (at least in our restaurants) but, of course - it's varies very much where you live in Sweden as you of course know. But I think you are wrong when you say we have no order in how we eat certain things. I'm a bit old =) but I believe most of us begin with the pickled herring with some boiled egg, the salmon, well - the fish dishes and then move towards the ham, ribs and sausages (and of course the vegetables!) with Jansson through the whole, and voila! Dessert (s) but no thanks, not for me :) That's it . . . MERRY CHRISTMAS!

[@Theyellowsmile]

You´re right. The Julbord is suppose to be eaten in stages. First cold stuff then warm after that dessert.

[@jimmiekarlsson4458]

@@Theyellowsmile Ye, the cold stuff comes first

[@MartinAhlman]

As you say, there's a way to go through the julbord. But I made my own rules as a young lad: First you try all the different kinds of pickled herrings, then you go back to your favourites (I avoid the boiled potatoes and have Janssons instead). Then I get more of the herring, some dopp-i-gryta (tunnbröd of course) and pigs trotters with "ättika" (vinegar sounds wrong here...) I also like to mix julmust with beer to drink with the meal. Wonderful! Yes, I'm from Norrland, how could you tell?

[@kennethkarlsson6796]

The stange kind of different kind of meals comes of the early middleages. It has been built up of all kind of resorses since like the iron age . And ofcourse, resent times

[@Divig]

Yeah. First cold fish dishes, then cold meat dishes, then hot dishes, lastly you might have lutfisk and then dessert.

[@jokervienna6433]

For Julbord, of course there is a pattern! Actually two patterns! You start with the fish. Herring, cold salmon, eel and all of it (including hard boiled eggs). Some cooked potatoes can go with it. Or bread. And snaps. Then you go for the "hot" food and the meat. Köttbullar, prinskorv, skinka, rostbiff and anything similar. Here is where the rödbetssallad can come into play. Plus eventually some more cooked potatoes. Or bread. And snaps. Then it is time for Janssons frestelse. Don´t eat too much of it, you will need some leftovers later (when you wake up the next day). Drink more snaps. Then you go for the sweet stuff. There should be marzipan somewhere, and some chocolate too. And snaps. The two patterns are not hard to spot, right? :D When I was in my late teens and early twenties, I managed TWO rounds of the above. That is how you get the Viking badge nowadays.

[@Babesinthewood97]

But after the sill you’re already stuffed. My technique is to only eat my favourites, and ditch the rest, to be able to enjoy the food without getting too full :)

[@swedishmetalbear]

The British/American Christmas Day tradition is the odd one out. Our celebration is much older and held out being the original pagan holiday far longer than in the UK.

[@boek2777]

Agreed. December 24 isn't a red day since it doesn't have anything to do with Christianity. Every Sunday is red but December 24 isn't unless it's on a Sunday. For thousands of years (before the first calendar) people have celebrated on the eve of the shortest day of the year. At that time it was December 24 but in today's calender it's the 21'st. Lucia is the "celebration of light" and was originally intended to ask the goods for light and heat (summer). We know that Lucia has been celebrated at least since 300 bc which is about 1100 years before the first Christian missionary came to Sweden and 600 years before Rome became Christian. The Christmas celebration should be moved to the 21'st to stay true to the original meaning but it got hijacked by Christianity and hence changed when the calendar changed (first change was in the early 3rd century/ long before Sweden became Christian). British Christmas is based on Christianity but Swedish christmas isn't. That's why we eat ham and they don't (pork was forbidden for christians until the old testament became outdated).

[@jennybrandqvist2270]

@@boek2777 During the 18th century, ham became common in some mansions, but not in the general public. The grilled ham became popular in the 19th century but did not become common until the 20th century. For a long time, the fine ham was saved for later occasions and instead a decorated pig's head, a so-called Christmas hay, was placed on the Christmas table.

[@roslilja]

Board games is a very big thing on Christmas in Sweden! And it isn’t about making ”all your favorite meals” on the Christmas table. Most traditional Christmas dishes are only served at Christmas time. The variety is what makes the Christmas buffets so festive and special

[@Caitlin_travels]

I love the new traditions I have with partners family in Sweden. On 23rd we play the Bingo on TV and on 25th we go to the cinema which is always sold out! 😊

[@aliciabergman1252]

If youŕe interested in how Swedish Christmas food and traditions have evolved through history I strongly recommend the christmas ep of "Historieätarna" , recommend the series as a whole too. The first two seasons are on YT. God Jul!

[@trolletuva]

The food goes back to the catholic time when you fasted before Christmas. Just fish and porridge (grain) were allowed but not meat. Then celebration after fasting with ham and other meat. It came naturally to have this fresh meat in winter. You couldn't store meat if it wasn't cold out so the rest of the year it was dried or salt food. Christmas was the only time for fresh meat and fresh bread.

[@mariannejohansson1361]

I think in the old days the weekend started at 6 o'clock in the evening. Which it does also these days with helgmålsringning. After that you were free for your Sunday rest. On the Sunday people had to go to church and that could take quite some time so because of that the evening, afton, became the day for feast.

[@lindatisue733]

I figure eve celebrations are so one can recover from a hangover on the rest day.

[@henrik.norberg]

In Sweden it is very common to spend the 25th with your friends and it is many people in the pubs and disco.

[@JustaBritAbroad]

really? interesting to hear that pubs and parties are such a big part of the 25th, I had no idea!

[@DraconiusDragora]

How to try and explain Christmas Food, if we look at Yuletid (What became Christmas), we are supposed to start the celebrations at the start of Yuletid (Which change, this year it was the 21srt of December), and traditionally you would bring any food that was for the end of the year. This means newly butchered pigs, horses, cows, chickens, the last crop harvests, the fish that has been stored (Like Lutfisk). Newly brewed beer, mead, and similar drinks, it was the time to party, not just with family, but the whole village/city. This festival / celebration was to welcome in the new year, and thank the spirits for another year of life. These celebrations were not very welcomed by the Christian church, as they saw it as barbaric (Because of the fighting), and filthy (Because of young people reproducing to put it lightly). So for quite a long time Christmas was actually banned by the church, but it didn't change for us. As time passed, and Christmas was officially named as The day Christ was born by the church, it slowly started to change. And as we started to get more food on a regular basis, like pig feet in gelatine, eggs, pork, fish, and so on so forth, it became a "staple" Christmas food. But, and this is a big but; Christmas Food has always been different from city to city, village to village. So what you can expect in one place, is totally different from another. So our authentic Christmas food is basically anything we can bring to the table. Though I can bet a few things will always be on the table. 1) Glögg. 2) Egg. 3) Sil. 4) Prinskorv. 5) Meatballs. 6) Julskinka and Fläskkorv/köttkorv. (Unless you go to my place, we just make whatever we feel like XD)

[@boek2777]

I just spent more time than i dare to admit, saying almost the same thing as you. Maby i should read all coments before posting 🤔

[@minicha77em]

Love that me and hubs don't have to choose which Christmas to celebrate, we do both. Mine on the 24th and his on the 25th as it is normally done :) The gift giving. Santa comes with a sack filled with presents and hands them out, they're not sitting under the tree. The dad often say "oh drat, I forgot to get the evening paper", dashes out and sadly miss Santa's visit every year

[@magdalenabozyk1798]

My partner's family celebrates Christmas eve starting with what they call "Christmas Breakfast", which is really a brunch. It starts with rice porrage and ham sandwiches. And then you go from there. You basically graze all day with proper fika and then julbord in between.

[@sirseigan]

Almost all holidays i Sweden is celebrated on the eve and not the day. It _might_ have something to do with that in the old Germanic (and Celtic) tradition the new day started at sunset and not at midnight (as was the Roman and later the catholic church way och counting the days). It was said that "the night birth the day". In this way of counting the days the evening of modern 24th is actually the start of the old 25th. This way of counting days is also called "Florencian Reconing" which comes from the Germanic tribe Langobards (who according to early historians comes from souther Scandinavia) who settled in the area of Florence during the migration era. Spain did also have their fair share of influx of Germanic tribe during this period as well (Vandals, Goths, Suiebe etc). This was also the way the days were counted in pre-christian Scandinavia. However if this is the reason why we still celebrate eves and not the days should be left unsaid, but if it is not the reason it is one h*ll of a coincidence 🙂 The extraordinary amount of food is more then just that people qere poor and saved up. Accotding to folklore the dead came home during the christmas night and they should also have food and beer. You also never knew who came visiting during this time of the year, human or "being", and not habing enough food and beer was not acceptable you could according to folklore be in real (mortal) trouble if you could not saticfy your guests (there were actually laws on a minimum of beer you ought to brew and have home as not to put the whole region in danger; true story). Do it not sound particularly Christian? It is probably becaus it is not. Folkloric Swedish Christmas has more "Wild Hunt" mixed with "Halloween" vibes to it then Jesus birthday... Compare the "Yule goat" and the alpine "Percha Carnival"... As late as when my dad was young they stilled thought the dead came home to celebrate with the living during the christmas night and all sort of stuff we do are sprung from that.

[@akrinord]

Playing board games on Christmas Eve (after Christmas dinner) is very much a tradition in my family! On the 25th it's common to go out with your friends or going to the movies. Merry Christmas!

[@nihlify]

I have to fight a little with you saying you're not suppose to start at one end of the christmas dinner. Traditionally there's 100 % and order to it. Nowadays many don't care but if you're doing it "correctly" it's something like this in order of turns: Turn 1: Sill, herring Turn 2: Salmon, seafood, eggs Turn 3: Cold meats. Turn 4: Warm dishes (meat balls and such). Turn 5: Cheese. Turn 6: Dessert. Turn 7: Candy. As for christmas day I think it's bit more fluid between families, I'm usually watching some Christmas movie, doing some puzzle or maybe boardgame sure.

[@BerishStarr]

Christmas day is a relaxing day for me, a day were you just are. Usually my family gather on Christmas Eve, then have a sleep over. Waking up all together to a big breakfast. During the day we would play boardgames, explore Christmas presents and....clean up after Christmas Eve. If the weather allows it the whole family would go out and play in the snow. The one day during the year the adults (in my family) would allow themselves to be "kids" again. Snowball "figths" a usual ending of our Christmas Day xD

[@christianfischer9971]

Thank you for sharing! Christmas is my favourite time of year! I’m from USA, and I love the differences and similarities in Christmas traditions around the world. We always played boardgames throughout the year on various holidays. Our favourite is Scattergories. We eat our Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve, then play boardgames, followed by a movie. The next morning, we open presents and have an English breakfast. We spend most of the day visiting and watching movies. One of my favourite traditions is driving around looking at the Christmas lights while sipping cocoa.

[@sophiemckenzie7527]

I lived in Germany and I will tell you their Christmas was so wonderful nothing like the states .I really miss Germany .the food is awesome the markets outside our beautiful it's so so wonderful and it's probably just as great as germany.liked putting the shoes outside the door and giving the kids sticks for being bad it was wonderful.

[@jonasfermefors]

Regarding the traditions leading up to Christmas: I agree that Sweden has more events in the Christmas build-up, but I was struck in the UK by how early Christmas starts.. the shop decorations go up so early it's almost still summer. I prefer having things kick off around the "first advent" a month before so you don't get too fed up with Christmas music and decorations (I still OD on them here, but it's a bit better).

[@Martin-re8ei]

The day started at the evening a long time ago. That is the reason we celebrate on afton.

[@andersgranstrom7128]

Christmas day, for me/us, is dedicated to eating even more Christmas food - with our parents, or the elders. After, just so stuffed that you feel like stuck between heaven and hell...there comes the coffee and chocolates, to round it off! :-I

[@Babesinthewood97]

I would love an English Christmas for Christmas day, as well, plus julafton. I’m Swedish but having lived in the uk for 4 years. I think there’s 2 things sweden does better for Christmas. Firstly, it’s like a custom to be more friendly over Christmas. People are walking around being extra kind. I think that’s very nice. I didn’t see any of that in the uk. Secondly, Swedish Christmas has more natural materials like real oranges, cloves, homemade gingerbread and saffron buns , candles, maybe a fireplace, mulled wine and a real fir tree that gives off lovely scents. I think the uk had more of blinking lights and store bought sweets. More shopping, more chocolate. But I guess it must be personal too, the way we choose our foods etc. Anyway, British Christmas dinner sounds alot nicer. Especially as I don’t eat meat :)

[@boek2777]

I have loads of food allergies. None of them is against meat. Slightly simplified: i can't eat grain or seads (bread, peas, beans, pasta, rice..) or anything containing starch (basically the same thing but includes potatoes). I won't die if i do for a few days but i would become dehydrated and lose weight by eating. I always eat the same food (meat, egg and fish) but on December 24 i actually eat luxuries like potatoes and bread since i take my yearly vacation to give me time to recover after the indulgence. Yes, I'm oversensitive to white suger but Julmust is the most Christmasy thing I know. Today (the day after eating potatoes) i drink water and eat meat while refusing to be more than 5 seconds from a lavatory. This post isn't intended to be hostile but Julmust is the thing i long for (a year to the next time/glas 😢).

[@lennartrisberg6539]

I bibeln, i första Moseboken, räknas dagarna från afton till afton. En dag börjar inte på morron utan på afton, 18:00 till 18:00. Tror ni också har, haft den traditionen i GB. Helgdagen, sabbaten, börjar lördag kl 18:00 med helgmålsringning och du kan åter gå i arbete efter 18:00 på söndagkväll. Så sent som på 70 talet jobbade min pappa på julafton.

[@ryttyr14]

By the time all of the presents have been opened it's generally high time to go to bed or head back home (depending on whether you're a host or a guest)

[@mimmipiggast2243]

Our julbord (Christmas buffé) has expanded a lot during the last 120 years. Some dishes we think of as traditional are actually from the 60s. But there is a clear order how to eat it as someone else explained here. I am sorry if no one told you the right way to attack a Swedish smörgåsbord.

[@AnniCarlsson]

Just remember that Christmas traditions are different from family to family as well as its region ofbthe country. Specially the food. What we serv is so different from family to family. I allsaw know a few British people and none of them play boardgames but me as a swede do it sometimes.

[@jonasfermefors]

Games: We often have a game night on the 24th.. it has depended a bit on the age of the participants, but it is pretty common in many families. Regarding board games in general: I think you will find a growing popularity for gaming (in all forms, but talking board games now) in the UK as well, so although we may be slightly ahead of the curve (maybe) it's still more of a general trend I think.

[@mnemonicn]

It's because Santa's VIP countries get it the day before the rest.

[@JustaBritAbroad]

Hahaha there we have it!! You guys must be doing a damn doing job avoiding the naughty list!!😅🎅🏼 what’s your secret?!😅

[@mnemonicn]

@Just a Brit Abroad Just bribe him with cookies and milk. You know the good quality swedish "fika" cookies are probably the secret.

[@marcusgustafsson9558]

Hej Gregg, as Marianne says in the comments, we celebrate the eve, because the day was thought to start at nightfall. Compare with Judaism, where Sabbath starts at nightfall on Fridays. Annandagen is just a prolongation of the Christmas, even though it is a holiday in itself for St. Stephanos, sankt Staffan.

[@Graaskaegg]

Yes, in "church calendar" Sunday starts at Saturday 18.00 (sort of official nightfall) so Christmas starts Christmas evening.

[@qigongmood]

On Christmas day you visit your extended family that you did not spend Christmas Eve with. Having Christmas dinner again and opening more Christmas gifts. And about the Christmas gifts. Santa will visit the house during the nigh of the 23:e and leave a few gifts (one or two) under the Christmas tree for the children and then vist in person after Kalle Anka (which is at 15.00 or 3pm). And that is the "go" on opening the rest of the gifts under the tree from the family (you put the "rest" of the gift some time during the day). The hours between Kalle Anka and when Santa came was sooooo long as a kid. During the evening of the 24th you eat again and talk and if someone got a board game as a gift you play. The evening of the 25th you go to the movies! This is my families tradition!

[@petarjovanovic1481]

The rational of celebrating in the evening is that Christian day begins in the evening. Something inherited from the Jewish tradition and the Old Testament where in Genesis the day begins in the evening. In Liturgical Christian churches, Orthodox Church, Roman Catholic church, Lutheran church... liturgical day begins in the evening and the evening service is the first service in the daily circle of services and prayers.

[@TyphorT38]

The traditional swedish christmas food is heavily meat based - the reason for this is that back in historic times christmas was the time for when the farmers brought out the best of the meat products that had been slaughtered during the fall. Basically on christmas we bring out all the stuff that the farmer produced by the end of the year.

[@JustaBritAbroad]

good point about the historic connection!

[@magritmargit]

I’m estonian and for me is Christmas like in Sweden, ee celebrate also on 24th December and when I lived 3 years in England it was quite different to see that 24th in England is just a day without Christmas lights and people in church. Also our Christmas meal is bit more Swedish style. Now I’m living in Sweden first weeks and let’s see what I can figure out what kind differences are between Estonia /England/ Sweden

[@magritmargit]

@Hartvig Flögh tack ! Jag är väldigt glad här och lär mig mycket svenska

[@atvheads]

Many people work at those red days in Sweden, it is only kinda day workers that has holiday. Kinda like office workers, small day working industry etc. But shift workers in the big industry have to work.

[@MDobri-sy1ce]

I’m not from Sweden but I kind of felt like Christmas Eve was more important than the actual day when I was got a little bit older because we used to have turkeys, stuffing, gravy, and meatballs. Also, people would stay longer for many hours as opposed to Christmas Day. After the meal most people were tired and just went home after.

[@mattiaslindgren8154]

Hey! The Swedish julbord is always sectioned in three parts and tradition plus local dishes dictates whats on it (but there are following a protocol so you cant just put anything on it) This is how we normally set it up and it has looked like this for at least 60+ years. You normally start with the cold table (gravad and smoked salmon, julskknka, eggs, herrings, different salads etc) warm table; poatoes, jansdons frestelse, lutfisk, meatballs, omelette, ribs). Finally different knäck, chocolate, ginger bread, glögg and Ris a la Malta. In the evening you serve additional sandwich with ham. The day is also a) a long wait for either eat or watching traditional tv shows. Watch Svensson Svensson, and you know the tradition (2000 in the evening) God Jul!

[@justmaria]

Boardgames is a big thing in my family on Christmas eve! We eat all the traditional food and when it's time to put up the candy / sweets we always play Boardgames for hours because it's the time to be like a kid again. In my Christmas traditions it's never been any alcohol served ever and I have lived for 55 years so as long I can remember we have always played games even grandparents have played games every year with us when they were alive.

[@JustaBritAbroad]

Oh it is Maria? Fun🤩 it’s so cozy to play board games isn’t it, especially on a full tummy of yummy Christmas food! Hope you have a fantastic Christmas👋🏻

[@justmaria]

@@JustaBritAbroad same to u, have a good and fulfilled Christmas 🎄 😊

[@KamiRecca]

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year!

[@tonyjohansson7567]

Board Game is definently a thing at Xmas here in Sweden. At least in my family 🤗

[@peringefilip]

I am from the coutryside so what we do after the dinner is to go out and see the animals of the farm, its an old tradition. We dont forget to put som porridge out for the gårdstomte, farmgnome.. after that its drinks and Cindy. 😊👍

[@JustaBritAbroad]

really? interesting! is this quite typical out on the countryside? fun!

[@dataolle]

A lot of the Swedish Julbord dishes comes from the Smörgåsbord and the older brännvinsbord.

[@Phlippan87]

Christmas and New Years traditions: 1. Kalle Anka 2. Karl Bertil Jonssons jul 3. Board games/puzzles 4. Movie marathons (PotC, Harry Potter, LotR etc.) 5. Grevinnan och Betjänten on New Years I feel like these are a couple of the most notable traditions when it comes to what we DO for the Holidays...

[@HannahHäggAutisticTransWoman]

We celebrite on christmas eve on the 24:th of december here in Sweden. Which is tomorrow. Best food is "jansons frestlse" which is like a gratin that is mainly potato, leek and anchovy, or "jul skinka" (christmas ham).

[@magdalenabozyk1798]

One other reason why there is so much food is that just around Christmas is when the pigs and calves went for slaughter. Mostly as food for winter, but also to not have to feed them over winter (which can be costly) Calves were especially abundant due to cows having to give birth in spring to give milk, so you always had more of those than needed , in "Rural Sweden". So there was abundance of meat before Christmas. And most probably the last super meal before lean timea in winter.

[@neaofthenorth]

In my family, during the evening after we have opened the presents, the kids usually play with their toys, sometimes we watch a movie together, or we go for a walk but I think the most common one is to grab a book (usually a new one we have gotten as a present, it's quite customary in our family to gift each person at least one book apart from the other gifts) and I for one really like to spend my evening reading.

[@JustaBritAbroad]

sounds really cosy!

[@hannayoung9657]

My husband used to not have the 25 off, he had to work half day in 25 and then be back on boxing day for sales. Yes he worked in retail in the UK. Eggs on the christmas table is fairly new thing. My dad had pike , not ham for Christmas , sprout, potatoes and cabbage. And there is a thread on where you start. You start with the warm food, then cold food and then the dessert.

[@Aeneiden]

In olden days before people had clocks a new day began at sundown; that's why we celebrate 24th. It's not like they could tell when it was 12 o'clock at night. So for them it was the 25th.

[@SteamboatW]

This year we won't watch Donald Duck at three o'clock. Swedish Television have taken the desicion to start five minutes past three. This have of course caused an uproar in all social media and if they cancel Ferdinand the Bull on top of this, we will be awfully close to a revolution.

[@henrybn14ar]

We haven't had ours yet. There are quite a lot of people in Sweden these days who still have to wait till 7th January. There is also 6th January as a holiday (Epiphany) to come.

[@JustaBritAbroad]

really? interesting Henry! I knew that 6th was celebrated in Sweden (trettondagarjul right?) but I didn't know that some people saved Christmas to celebrate then!

[@ramdalion]

Though in sweden if for example the 24/12 is at a tuesday then the monday the day before (day betwen two red days) is calle a "Klämdag" = Squeeze-day ...i guess is the closest translation and a lot of employers and Unions have diffrent rules for them depending on what kind of work you do but a Rule of thumb is to expect diffrent Open-hours for stores and other service-based jobbs on these "Squeeze-days" if the store is open at all.

[@ZapAndersson]

"no red thread"!?!? How dare you! It's all CHRISTMAS FOOD 😝🤪😁😜

[@JustaBritAbroad]

haha good point, who needs more reason to eat it than that😆😆

[@victoriabrissman1768]

Thank you for showing us the differences between Christmas in UK and in Sweden. That was interesting. 😊 As many here in the comments have pointed out, there is a long tradition of eating julbord and it certainly has its rules or ways of eating. I can recommend the podcast “Alla kan äta julbord” with Lotta Lundgren and Erik Haag. Very interesting and educating about all the tours of the Julbord. (Swedish language though, you might need to have it translated or explained to you?) 🤗

[@wertigon]

"Afton" in Swedish is actually "Evening", not "afternoon". :)

[@phnome123]

You are right. Really. But Christmas day is a boardgame for my extended family. There is always someone who get a new game to play :) And we do that throughout the year.

[@StaffanSwede]

Apart from the order one is supposed to eat the various dishes in, there is another thread through julbordet. If you take a closer look, most of the fish is pickled or cured one way or another (inlagd, saltad, gravad eller lutad). Most of the meat is traditionally pork, but that tradition is easier now as we don't keep pigs in our backyards to be eaten during Christmas, so beef have moved in lately. Otherwise, you would have found a number of ways to use the pig apart from the ham. Pork cannot be stored for long either, so it was a matter of eating and enjoying the fresh meat - probably a welcome thing back then.

[@grotgrusson5124]

In Sweden we tend to have _klämdagar_ . For eg 24 is a day of, thus, the 23 Dec is also a day off... 🤔 Or if the normal week look like this: Work, work, work, vacation, work, Sat, Sun. Most workplaces let you get that Friday for free so to say, cause its a _klämdag_ (squeez day) that is squeezed in between two other holidays.

[@lindaeriksson7461]

Julbord is a form of smorgasbord and nowadays it is a mix of traditional foods from all of Sweden. Pickled herrings is from the west coast while east cost have strömming. The Christmas ham is from the inland and so on. There are lots of foods not eaten any more as pig fet in yelly... People eat what they had, with time and TV chefs we eat all the same. What we do on Christmas eve is eat and then we eat some more. Santa comes or if he's not perhaps we play a Christmas gift game.

[@sophiawahlen7326]

I think a lot if countries celebrate the 24th because the church days (the church calander) switch days in the evening. So during the evening for the church, you switch day so it becomes Christmas day in the eyes of the church event hough our calander still says it is Christmas eve. I'm not a 100 percent sure, but I think I read about this some time ago.....🤷‍♀️

[@Congaman41]

There is a clear red line in a traditional swedish Julbord. Learn it, it's quite easy.

[@JustaBritAbroad]

okay, please share? :)

[@Congaman41]

@@JustaBritAbroad read post of f99mlu. A clear direction in how dishes are served and supposed to be eaten. All representing the tradition of food from a time when Sweden still was a poor agricultural country.

[@theblackgoatofthewoods]

Sweden do the evenings because they used to be sunworshippers and if you do your cellebration or sacrifice during the evening/night then you pray for the suns return in the morning.

[@Murvelhund]

We play board games and for us "Karl-Bertils Julafton" is the thing, not Kalle Anka. When it comes to the food though we split it, cold first then the warm food later.

[@SteamboatW]

There is actually a traditional way of eating the julbord. ... and ypu don't have to eat so much of every dish, it's more like meze in that regards.

[@albertbergquist2113]

Apparently, at the viking age, the new day began at dusk, not midnight. So the 25th, began after sunset on the 24th, thus the Christmas evening turned into christmas day!

[@annikasvensson205]

My theory about that we commonly celebrate holidays one the eve is that we dont wait for things. When we get of work the party starts. And then we need that afterday to chill ( or have a hangover). In Sweden the 25th are spent in the pyjamas, playing with your presents, or boardgames 😋. Or you hit the cinemas. And eat all the leftovers.

[@pabloguerra3028]

While seeing your video..! Your Swedish Christmas is very similar to my Finnish Christmas that I am used to, My dear grandmother was a Swedish Speaking Finn in Finland so I grew up with a lot traditions that are very common in Sweden. At least in my house on the 24th always had dinner with candles and have traditional Finnish caseroles....that might be the only slight difference but there is herring, Salmon, Gingerbread cookies, a smoked ham, deserts etc...Very similar overall. This past Christmas my Finnish mother got me some Nordic Christmas Decorations from Ikea that where very similar to those she grew up in Finland. Of course you need to have the angels that are hanging with the candles are lit..thats a very classic Christmas decoration in Sweden and FInland.

[@PennyAfNorberg]

Christmas day and boxing day evening could be celebrated on the movies here, not so much of that the last two years however, And homecoming parties during christmas day.

[@magicofshootingstar]

I didn't really check the comments to see if this was already explained. Anyways we as Finns also celebrate in Christmas Eve instead of Christmas Day. The reasoning, as I have understood it, is in religion. Earlier it was more commonly thought that in holy days like sundays or Christmas, one is supposed to be quiet and consentrate to God and Bible. So the "roudy" celebrations happened in the Eve and the Christmas Day was about Christ. Nowadays many are not religious anymore but the tradition of celebrating in Eve is still there. Also in my family it still is habit to start Christmas Day with going to church.

[@xxxs8309]

Even in Lebanon they have a big family gathering on Christmas eve

[@halfdangrafeldt7239]

Normally it all won't be served at once: you'll start out with the herring, Janssons (potato gratin with fish) and sometimes the gravlax (sugar salted salmon) then follow it up with cold cute and finally the warm meat dishes alongside with the sweet cabbage and ended with ris alla Malta (sweet whipped cream rice pudding served cold). Then there are a few regional traditions like dop i grytan where you take the jul wort bread (vört) and soak it in the boiling water from the ham.

[@TheSafirdragon]

love the dop

[@Richardknas]

All of the food you mention are a mix from different regions in sweden. So you got tradition from the coast and the inland part. So there I s a logic of the food we eat.

[@martinjansson1970]

One reason that we eat a lot of different stuff on Christmas, is that historically a lot of the food would go bad if saved until later. Usually a pig was slaughtered during the cold season, when slaughter, butchering and preservation was easily done. The the meat, blood, intestines and all the other stuff was used in traditional Swedish Christmas recipes, that will go bad within days when the weather get warmer. UK is of course different, since it doesn't have a real cold season, nor a warm one, just kind of the same moist, chilling, horrible weather during all seasons. Outside the really cold season, the weather in Sweden is to warm and for non-problematic slaughter, and non-complicated methods of meat preservation. During summer and early fall, with traditional methods, it's often to hot to even try to preserve any meat, it has to be eaten within hours of slaughter (Midsummers festivities). You could argue that other warmer countries do just fine with slaughter in similar, or hotter weather, but they don't have the long sun drenched days, and the explosion in the number of flies, germs and other biological activity, that we have during the warm seasons. The preserved fish dishes also, historically, doesn't last for more than months. We didn't have modern jars or preservatives. Also, in many Swedish areas, some kinds of fishing is sometimes really good in the winter, adding fresh fish to traditional Swedish Christmas dishes. In other areas, or other years, because of thick ice, only dried fish was available during winter, hence lutfisk. Vegetables like kale and brussels sprouts, is left in the field until they are consumed. If they freeze, they will immediately start to rot, when a thaw comes. Swedish cows didn't milk but for a couple of months in spring and summer. The milk was preserved as cheese. During Christmas, most kinds of cheeses was at their tastiest, and many kinds would go really bad within a few months.

[@martah5369]

Celebrating on eves has a religious explanation. In Jewish tradition and thus in the Church, the days start at 18:00 the day before. Compare to how shabbat candles are lit on Friday evening. That's how the celebration came to start the day before. My father's family used to have only five things on Christmas eve: ham, pickled beetroot, dopp i grytan, långkål and potatoes.

[@imavettelfan]

24th and 31st of december isnt a bank holliday in norway but most work half days because it the day before a bank hollyday

[@ophelian4646]

God Jul and merry Christmas to you all 🎅🌲🤶!

[@lauragarnham77]

I actually do know why they celebrate on the 24th :) apparently it is because in the past the day did not start at midnight but rather when it went dark, so in the winter the day starts at about 3 in the afternoon. So back then they were actually celebrating on the 25th, because the 25th had already started when they had their celebration. After the decision on when days started and ended changed, they didn't change when they celebrated Xmas, which left them celebrating on the afternoon/evening of the 24th.

[@JustaBritAbroad]

Really? That’s so interesting! Thanks for sharing Laura, I’ve never heard that element of the story before. Merry Christmas to you and yours!

[@katam6471]

In the Catholic Church this is actually still a thing all the year around. Every Sunday (and other important days) liturgically starts at the evening prayer 'vesper' (typically around five pm). Which I suppose explains why they celebrate on the 24th i Spain, something I didn't know. And this is also the reason for the tradition of 'helgmålsbön' in the Church of Sweden. In the old days, when the church bells rang at Saturday evening, the work for the week should been done and the Sundays rest started. Now I'll go taste my 'julskinka'. I think it's just about cold enough to cut a slice of. A very merry Swedish Christmas to you!

[@lauragarnham77]

@@katam6471 A very merry British Christmas to you, thanks so much for the extra info, I enjoyed learning more.

[@robhobsweden]

Remember, we also have new year's eve off as well, and it's exactly one week after christmas eve. So the best years for employees, is when christmas eve is on a thursday, meaning that the new year's eve is that too, making two consecutive weeks with four days off, directly after each other. You could argue that it would be better to have christmas eve on a wednesday, but that means that 2nd of January would be a normal work day. However, with that said, I think that we Swedes could learn from the Brits, and have a compensation day off when a holiday is on a weekend, I completely agree with you there. :) With that said sir, happy holidays to you and your close one, Greg! ❤🎅🏻✨

[@Soldrakenn]

Lol "there is no red thread to the food??!!1!!1?" Me: " dude, it's a smörgåsbord with the theme "christmas food", that's the theme... Christmas food..." 😂😂

[@danhanqvist4237]

Board games are not specific to Christmas, but it's very common to play on Christmas Day or Boxing Day.

[@petherarlemalm55]

According to the old Norse way, the day shifts to another at dusk not at dawn, so as soon as the sun sets a new day begins, making Julafton the day we Swedes celebrate rather than Juldagen.

[@jarls5890]

So is the Jewish tradition. Jesus was jewish after all.

[@indraallian6371]

Thanks for the reminder! I had forgot to have any Glögg this holiday. Lingonglögg of course 👍

[@mockupguy3577]

Eve versus day. Not sure why, but we tend to celebrate the eves. That is true for Easter, Valpurgis, Midsummer, All Hallows’, Yule, and New Year.

[@bengtandersson101]

As I understand it, reading about differences between countries in christmas celebrating, Brittish people seem to party a lot before Christmas, maybe mostly at the office or other working places? I think that's not the case in Sweden, here we tend to celebrate December in a calmer way. We want to feel warm and cosy, hiding from the cold darkness outside and seek warmth, light candles in company with friends and family. More people should also think about the less lucky people in you own country and the much less lucky people in other parts of the world no matter how you celebrate. Kids are cold, sick and starving. But still I wish you and your viewers a happy Christmas. My Christmas gift will go to those in the world who are struggling with there lives. I wish I can make just a tiny little bit of difference in that way. Merry Christmas again!

[@AndrewKendall71]

The every-different-kind-of-food thing is something I've always experienced at Christmas (and sometimes even Thanksgiving) in the US. I wonder if it's primarily informed by Scandinavian tradition. Half of my family are Swedish, but why we do it has never come up. I just thought it was normal.

[@KingSnickSnack]

what we eat at christmas has changed a lot just in the bast 60 years. My mother tells me when she grew up christmas was the time you slaugtherd a pig and used all of the pig at christmas eve. most of the thing she ate then are not common today

[@swededude1992]

Alot of commentators tells there are a red thread in the order what foods to eat in a swedish christmasbuffet. In my family we never had any order at all. We took what we liked and ate it, what we didn't like we didn't eat. Simple. What meals that are in the buffet varies between diffrent families and diffrent parts of Sweden. All this do most swedes eats during the afternoon and evening on christmas, within a few hours: 1. Christmasbuffet 2. Dessert 3. Fika 4. Sweets

[@TheLegokick]

Interesting that you usually play board games durring the evening. I saw that on the Christmas special of Peep Show but I'd hardly imagine it was an actual tradition. We usually spend the evening in front of the TV. After julbordet, Kalle and handing out the presents, that's when the best stuff airs on TV; Tomten är Far till alla barnen, Kan du vissla Johanna, and most importantly: Karl-Bertil jonsson. Kalle is really just pure tradition while Karl-Bertil and the others are genuinely great. It's a nice and cozy time to relax with some nuts or candy, and maybe have som glögg, wine, or some fancy Julöl you've saved. You're finaly there, no more stress, just pure christmas joy. There's also midnattsmässan which i kinda would like to go to but the rest of my family doesn't care for it so the TV it is.

[@JustaBritAbroad]

it sure is - I'm not sure where the tradition comes from, but its super cosy! it is common to watch Christmas specials of your favourite TV shows too though, a bit like the Kalle and Karl-Bertil in Sweden! we've been to midnättsmässan a few times in the UK with my family too, such a special occassion! hope you have a fantastic Christmas!

[@annicaesplund6613]

A real julbord have 12 plates: different fish dishes with bread, butter and cheese, eggs and sea food, cold meat and sallad, varm dishes (meatballs, prinskorv, ribs), lutfisk, desserts, baked goodies with coffee and avec, sweets... don't forget beer and snaps with the food!

[@jockez3581]

A restaurant julbord that is. Not how most people do at home in julafton and not how it's done historically.

[@SteamboatW]

You would expect surströmmingsstuffed turkey, dancing to ABBA and drinking Coca-Cola under a Cuckoo-clock.

[@periaadoc]

In the old days y ou had a party at the 2 4 that would last all night and it would end with a "julotta", a christmas masse at 07.00