A Guide to a Very British Christmas

Every year it seems that Christmas starts a little earlier. People tend to roll their eyes as the Halloween decorations come down and the tinsel goes up. However, this year people can’t wait to get into the Christmas spirit. As the days get colder and the nights get longer, we all need a little festive warmth to get through the last dregs of 2020. Hopefully we can find some comfort in tradition. But what are British Christmas traditions and where do they come from?

The Tree

For one month of the year, almost every family in Britain keeps a whole tree in their living room. The tree is then covered in lights and tinsel and occasionally a fairy, or a star, on top. This is considered completely normal behaviour. In the old days the tree would also be hung with lit candles adding an exciting touch of danger. Like many of our Christmas rituals, the idea of the Christmas tree became popular in Victorian times. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were very much the Kim and Kanye of their time and they set the trends nationwide. Prince Albert is thought to have introduced the idea of Christmas trees from his native Germany.

Father Christmas

You can’t have Christmas without Father Christmas, otherwise known as Santa. But who is this magical flying old man? Legend has it that Santa is based on Saint Nicholas, a kind monk who gave gifts to children. The Santa we know is usually seen all in red with a big white beard and belly like a big bowl of jelly. His colour scheme has changed over the years. He was originally dressed in brown or green until he was allegedly given a makeover by the advertising team at CocaCola.

Sadly, one German tradition we haven’t adopted here is Santa’s scarier brother, Krampus. Often pictured as a terrifying goat monster, Krampus would steal bad children on Christmas Eve. This made Santa’s naughty or nice list a much more serious document.