What Holiday Traditions Do You Have/Celebrate?

[.kyungsoo]

Well, depends which holidays.

On Thanksgiving my family has a tradition of deep frying a turkey, which sounds odd - however, it is the juiciest turkey I have ever had. We all sit in the garage in our lawn chairs, bundled up in sweaters & coats because the East Coast tends to get really cold by the end of November, put this giant turkey into a turkey fryer because you can't do it in the kitchen lol and wait. Then my mother and I make four stack cake - it's pudding cake really. Walnut crust, cream cheese, chocolate or butter scotch pudding, and then whip cream. It's great.

[Ecks Dee]

I personally celebrate pagan holidays like Yule!! I would love to see pagan-inspired pets!!

[coffee.berry]

I celebrate New Year's, Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas!

I only have special traditions at Christmastime, since me and my family usually fly over to my aunt and stay there until January!

For Christmas Eve, we celebrate the 24th but not the 25th. We have a special game called "the gift game" where people pass as many gifts as the people are around until the music stops. Then you unwrap those gifts, and if you don't like it, you can exchange it!

We also have risalamande that we put almonds in. The one who finds a whole almond wins a gift! <3

[TImeVirus]

My family is pretty traditional southern America when it comes to Holidays, we celebrate New years, Valentine's, Independence day, Easter, Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Halloween. For Thanksgiving we name every turkey 'Tom', I'm not sure why we do this but it was a tradition long before I was old enough to remember and it'll probably continue for a few decades more at least. We thank 'Tom' for joining us and the two newest people to the household, that's new spouses or stepkids or the like, get first pick of the meat or/and pie. For Christmas we make oreo cake and hang this old porcelain dear ornament, it's white with beautiful gold and blue detailing like a traditional tea-set or something, on the front of the tree before dinner. Ideally, the youngest person puts the deer on the tree but since I'm the youngest person in the family and have been since I was born that means that I get to put the deer on the tree every year.

[FoxBoxUniverse]

I love Christmas! It’s literally one of my fave things!
Some traditions my family has is:
Each year me and my sister try to make a different kind of gingerbread house e.g farm, racetrack, castle, carousel. So fun!
I love to watch a Christmas movie for each day in December! (I also do this for Halloween) it’s hard because my mum hogs the tv but we get it done.
Also idk if you guys have ever done a guy fawkes day/fireworks night but you should. It a uk celebration most similar to the 4th of July.
I always try to have Christmas at my Nan’s. Sometimes it changes but my Nan’s has always been my favourite.
Also getting a new set of pyjamas on Christmas is a tradition
Also NEVER open presents on Christmas Eve. EVER. You wait 365 days you can wait one more. It ruins the magic. At least to me.
Also Christmas crackers! It’s a tradition for the whole uk and it’s pretty fun. Braking those paper boi and getting stuff is a classic. I like to make custom ones too. Little paper hats, jokes or riddles, and a toy or something.
Anyway! I love Christmas! And I suppose cs is a tradition at this point! I’ve been doing it for like 7 yrs.

[GRUMPYBOSTON]

I used to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas. I have it up years ago when my children got olderand started going to other peoples houses.I think they did that because they knew I was sick and it was hard for me to cook a big dinner. Plus the holidays havent been the same since loosen my grandmother who cooked wonderful dinners. Christmas this year because of money will be a no go but thats ok when I can afford things I get my children stuff thru the years . But they are all adults and understand.This year is gonna be the hard year it is the first without my grandfather he passed in march and i still havent come around.But we will make the best of it

[GRUMPYBOSTON]

I celebrate New Year's, Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas!

I only have special traditions at Christmastime, since me and my family usually fly over to my aunt and stay there until January!

For Christmas Eve, we celebrate the 24th but not the 25th. We have a special game called "the gift game" where people pass as many gifts as the people are around until the music stops. Then you unwrap those gifts, and if you don't like it, you can exchange it!

We also have risalamande that we put almonds in. The one who finds a whole almond wins a gift! <3

That gift game sounds really neat

[jellybeansmud]

My favorite holidays are Halloween and Maslenitsa, slavic holiday of welcoming the spring and burning the winter away. Celebrated by eating pancakes and burning a straw scarecrow/doll of Maslenitsa. Another interesting slavic holiday is Kupala, summer solstice holiday, celebrated with herb collecting, (it's even believed ferns bloom on Kupala Night), divination on wreaths floating on water, lighting bonfires and jumping over them and bathing in rivers to clean and protect yourself from evil spirits, and other things.

[Lwaxana]

Vesakh, a Buddhist festival, and the 8 major Pagan holy days for me. Also Diwali if I have people to do it with.

The most important celebration to be added regularly though, in my opinion, is Eid-al-Fitr. We do have quite a few Muslims playing, and it was always odd to me that this is not included.

[Thalassic]

My favorite holiday is Midsummer (Līgo/Jāņi). It's a celebration of the summer solstice (celebrated from june 23rd to 24th) , where you light a bonfire and stay up all night, to symbolize the suns transition from "one suns year into the next".

Historically it's been a celebration of repeating cycles, cleansing and fertility, but nowadays it's more of a family gathering in the country around a big bonfire, and eating and drinking a lot.

Some of the fun symbolism includes:

• lighting a fire and keeping it burning all night (ugunskurs), to show the lights triumph over darkness. it is said that the people and the earth that is shone upon by the fire will be given strength and fertility for the whole year.
• singing Līgo songs (līgodziesmas) is said to bring good luck to everyone they are sung to (aplīgošana), which is often joined by improvised drumming (apbungošana) and other instruments, all said to bring good fortune.
• ferns and "fern blossoms" (papardes zieds), a mythical flower said to only bloom the night of the celebration, its a symbol of new life, new cycles and fertility. It is said that whoever finds a ferns blossom will get to know all the secrets of of the past and the future, as well as happiness and good fortune, as all of their wishes will be fulfilled.
• flower and leaf crowns (vainags) - historically women and girls during the day would collect flowers and plants and weave them into crowns - flower crowns for girls and crowns woven from oak branches for boys, but in modern days this isnt as strictly followed, often youll even see crowns made from both oak leaves and flowers for everyone. These crowns are hung up in the home and dried until next Jāņi, when they are burned in the new bonfire, as an act of cleansing the wearer.
• Drinks - such as Kvass are to be expected in abundance, it's one of the holidays staples and often families will even brew their own.
• Foods - sausages and skewered meat on the open fire (šašliks), potatoes roasted in the ashes of the bonfire, cheese with fennel seeds (ķimeņu siers) and various salads, especially rasols.
• Cleansing rituals - there's a whole lot of cleansing rituals that are still widely observed on this day, such as burning your old flower crown, dancing around the fire, jumping over the fire (yes really, yes its dangerous, no don't do it), walking through or washing your hands/face in the morning dew, spending time in a sauna (pirts) and bathing in cold water afterwards (especially a lake/river/pond).