Celebrating Christmas around the world

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As the Christmas celebrations get underway, the Serbs get out their dancing shoes. The "kolo" is a typical Serbian folk dance, in which participants link arms and move in a circle. swissinfo.ch

Here are a few typical Serbian Christmas treats. For Christmas dinner, they eat unleavened bread, roast fish, cooked beans, sauerkraut and noodles. What is unusual about the Serbian Yuletide is the custom of bringing a tree branch into the house and burning it on the fire. Families pray next to the burning log for love and happiness in the coming year. swissinfo.ch

This is Tatiana Schmidlin from Russia. She does most of her partying at the end of the year. On New Year's Eve, she says, small dishes like salads and herring are laid out on a large table together with the main meal. Just before midnight, the family listens to the President's speech on television and cracks open a bottle of champagne, then the feast begins. swissinfo.ch

The Russian Christmas is on 7 January, but the bigger celebration takes place on 31 December, when Grandfather Frost (Ded Moroz) arrives with his beautiful granddaughter, the Snow Maiden (Sengurochka) to dish out presents to children. They travel by horse, not reindeer. swissinfo.ch

Moving to Hungary in Central Europe, represented here by Gabriel Moldovany, holding a plate of Kürtőskalács, a festive cake cooked on a spit. The Hungarians have their main Christmas meal on 24 December. They often eat fish soup called ‘Halászlé', and cabbage stuffed with rice, mince pork, onion and garlic. swissinfo.ch

Kürtőskalács, a festive cake cooked on a spit, is made from sweet, yeast dough, strips of which are wrapped around a truncated cone–shaped baking spit. Sugar is sprinkled on top, which caramalizes as the cakes turn in the oven. swissinfo.ch

Heading North and closer to Santa’s North Pole is Finland, represented here by Kristina Manetsch-Mozatti. Their Father Christmas is called Joulupukki. He comes from Lapland and usually wears warm red robes, uses a walking stick, and travels in a sleigh pulled by a number of reindeer, which cannot fly like Santa Claus's fleet. swissinfo.ch

Smoked fish is, for many people, the highlight of the Finnish Christmas table. This salmon is covered with brine - a mixture of salt, sugar, and water - and smoked in a wood burner using alder wood. swissinfo.ch

Heading to Eritrea now - and at this stall, Engera Zegne Henbasha and Mehari Fesseha show us what kind of food they eat at Christmas. They brew Swa, home-made beer, and bake Injera, a thin, flat, spongy sour bread made of Taff flour. swissinfo.ch

This is Zgni, a hot meat stew eaten on Christmas day in Eritrea. Green straw is strewn around the home and, as the meal gets underway, soothing incense smoke fills the room. swissinfo.ch

Heading south, and Césa Miranda from Peru shows us his favourite Christmas tipple. In his country, a Jesus doll is lowered into a wooden crib on Christmas Eve and his family goes to pray at twelve different churches. swissinfo.ch

Pisco sour is a favourite drink at Christmas in Peru, where a giant party featuring turkey and ‘paneton’ cake (known in Europe as panettone) gets underway at midnight on 24 December. swissinfo.ch

From the Andes to the Himalayas, Buddhist Tibetans like Ngawang Palden do not celebrate the Christian festival of Christmas. Instead, they have a big party at 'New Year' in February. They visit the temple to pray, and then eat tsampa, flour milled from roasted barley and dumplings. swissinfo.ch

Here you can see Tibetan momo, dumplings made from onions and minced meat, part of traditional Christmas fare. swissinfo.ch

For Tibetans living in exile in Switzerland, prayer is an important part of their New Year's festivities. Ngawang Palden and his family dress up in their best clothes and visit the Budhist temple at the Tibet Institute Rikon in the Töss Valley, before returning home for a feast. swissinfo.ch

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Imagine a Swiss Christmas market where you can get into the holiday spirit by sipping Norwegian glogg and nibbling on Argentinian banana empanadas – while watching a Portuguese folk dance. swissinfo.ch found one: in the heart of Switzerland!

26 countries were represented at this year’s three-day Venite ForumExternal link in Lucerne. The international Christmas market aims to increase understanding and awareness of folklore and culinary traditions around the world.

Many visitors escaped from the cold in the musical tent, where singers and music groups from Tibet to Portugal performed in traditional costumes. Other visitors were more interested in the stalls selling typical products from participating countries, and traditional foods such as Tibetan dumplings, Indian curries, Eritrean sour dough and Finnish reindeer sandwiches. 

The event is financed by private donors and sponsors such as the Catholic and Protestant churches, the city of Lucerne, local newspapers, a tourism academy and local companies.