Who celebrates Christmas?

Answer 1

As a religious holiday Christmas is celebrated by Christians as the time of the birth of Jesus Christ. However, celebrations during the time we now know as December reach back far into the past and December is a time of celebration for non-Christians as well, since Christmas became merged with ancient Solstice celebrations.

Before Christmas, there were pagan celebrations of the Solstice. The Solstice is the longest night of the year. Pagans celebrated the return of the light as the days began to grow longer after the Solstice.

The celebration of the birth of Christ at the same time as earlier pagan celebrations was a choice made by early Christian church leaders. Many of the traditions now associated with Christmas were adapted from earlier pagan traditions including decorating trees, holly, ivy, mistletoe, gift giving, yule log and feasts.

Answer 2

Christmas is traditionally celebrated around the world on December 25 by both religious and nonreligious people. The Christmas holiday and traditions originated from the pagan celebration of Saturnalia.