When do Swedish people celebrate Christmas?

Answer 1

In Sweden, Christmas is generally celebrated on Christmas Eve. In my family, my parents would decorate the house on the night betweenthe 23rd and 24th December. In the morning, we would have Christmas porridge (risgrynsgröt, rice porridge) for breakfast (although in many families, this is eaten as dessert after the Christmas dinner). At 3pm, most families would settle down to watch an hour of (mostly old) Disney Cartoons (yes, really!), a tradition dating back at least to my childhood some 40 years ago. Then you have Christmas dinner, a smorgasbord filled with ham (the main thing), meat balls, sausages, brussels and various other Swedish dishes. Then presents are opened. The next morning, there is a traditional candle-lit Christmas service at church (often at 6am, sometimes at 5am or 7am). That is really the end of Christmas, which means that when the British start celebrating, the Swedes are already done!