Merry Christmas

Welcome to our site which is all about Christmas.

Countdown to Christmas Day 2010

Christmas Day is essentially a Christian festival, which celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. It was fixed as 25th December by the mid-4th century AD - the actual day Christ was born is not known. In England the name originated from Christ's mass. Christmas is sometimes called 'Yule', which comes from the Old English word geol, which meaning a time of traditional midwinter feasting.

Christmas Traditions

Throughout the world many countries celebrate Christmas, but some have slightly different ways of celebrating it.

Here is a traditional Christmas saying - 'Christmas comes but once a year, but when it comes it brings good cheer'.


In many countries it is a tradition to send Christmas cards. The first Christmas card was designed in 1843.		Pulling Christmas crackers is another old British tradition. There were introduced in 1884.

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve children hang up stockings or pillowcases and hope that on Christmas morning they will wake to find that Santa Claus has filled them full of presents. It is also a tradition to leave a snack for Santa - usually a mince pie and a glass of milk.

In France and Germany, the main Christmas celebration takes place on Christmas Eve.

On Christmas Eve many churchgoers - both Protestant and Catholic - attend a midnight service at their local place of worship.

Christmas Day

Since the middle of the 19th century it has been the custom in UK to give and receive presents on Christmas Day. The tradition of Christmas puddings and cakes started in the Middle Ages.

Boxing Day

The correct name for the day after Christmas is Saint Stephen's Day. It is the feast day of St Stephen, the first Christian martyr, who stoned to death for preaching that Jesus was the Messiah. In the UK it is commonly known as Boxing Day, most likely because of the old custom of giving Christmas boxes or presents of money to servants and tradesmen.