Christmas in Sweden

Christmas in Sweden falls on December 24, Christmas Eve, as the main celebration.

Advent starts about four weeks before Christmas, when the first candle is lit in the Advent candlestick, a custom going back to the 1890s. Lucia on December 13 brings candlelit processions in schools, churches, workplaces and town squares, with participants in white full-length gowns, star boys carrying stars on sticks and a Lucia wearing a crown of candles. On Christmas Eve at three o'clock, many Swedes watch the Disney compilation known in Sweden as Kalle Anka och hans vänner önskar God Jul.

The julbord is the Swedish Christmas smorgasbord. Sweden.se lists Christmas ham, the small pork sausage prinskorv, the egg and sprat spread gubbröra, herring salad, pickled herring, home-made liver pâté, wort-flavoured rye bread and lutfisk among the classics. Saffron buns called lussekatter and gingerbread biscuits called pepparkakor are served through the season, often with glögg.

Sweden.se notes that early Christmas presents were given anonymously and playfully, sometimes as a wrapped log tossed through a front door, and that in the 1900s people began giving real presents handed out by Father Christmas, modelled on Saint Nicholas.

The festive figure most associated with Christmas in Sweden is Father Christmas, whose Swedish figure sweden.se traces back to Saint Nicholas.

Around three million Swedes tune in at three o'clock on Christmas Eve for the Kalle Anka Disney cavalcade, a public service tradition that has charmed audiences since the 1960s.

For the rituals, dishes and gift bringers in other countries, browse our Christmas around the world hub, compare customs side by side in the Christmas Traditions Explorer or plan your own December with the Christmas checklist.