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Can someone explain why in some countries, Christmas is the 24th?

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Here in this country
Mexico
we celebrate Christmas eve and we don't give a shit about December 25th.

In December 25th you just wake up late because you stayed up late the night before having fun. If your family watches too many American movies or if you live in the north of the country you may get some presents left by Santa, if not you'll receive presents in January 6th.
 
You need to plan your celebration as close as you can between Christmas and Christmas Eve so that it's surrounded by maximum Christmas on both sides. It's tough to wait til midnight, though.

I'm American and celebrate on the Eve.
 
Op, do you have Christmas dinner on the 25th? Like you open the gifts in the morning and then have Christmas dinner at night?

For me Christmas dinner is on the 24th which you spend with your family as it crosses over to the 25th which is Christmas day. In the morning of the 25th kids open the gifts when they wake up.
 
Born and raised in Brooklyn NY to Puerto Rican parents and our family has always always, since as long as I can remember always has had Christmas dinner and celebrated on the 24th (as we are doing now) we eat, drink, listen to music and dance and try to keep the little ones awake until 12am -which is only 2 short hours away- and then we open presents.

On the 25th we wake up late, open the remainder of the presents left and just stay home and watch movies and we eat leftover dinner from the 24th. Always has been like that and I will continue that tradition when I have my own kids.

God bless America, now let me get back to my coquito.
 

Futureman

Member
I don't understand people who are like, "THIS is how you celebrate Christmas, if you don't do it like me HOW STRANGE." Shut up Christmas Nazi.
 
Why are so many people getting upset over this? Celebrating Christmas on the 24th or rather celebrating the coming of Christmas on the 24th has been around forever and a lot of us grew up that way. Its nothing to get worked up over. In fact you want to know how little this affects the 25th celebrators? Some of you didn't even know up until now this was a thing.
 

CrocoDuck

Member
Here in this country
Mexico
we celebrate Christmas eve and we don't give a shit about December 25th.

In December 25th you just wake up late because you stayed up late the night before having fun. If your family watches too many American movies or if you live in the north of the country you may get some presents left by Santa, if not you'll receive presents in January 6th.

Though I wouldn't say we don't give a shit about the 25th, we do celebrate the big day on the 24th. Dinner, drinks, dancing, and presents. Party doesn't end 'till 4 or 5 in the morning.

During the 25th, we generally have another, more quiet dinner while opening leftover presents and just chill throughout the rest of the day.

I remember as a kid I always thought it was strange watching movies like Home Alone and saw how Christmas is observed in the morning of the 25th, as opposed to my family. My take away from those movies is that that's how most Americans celebrate the holiday; whereas even though I was born in the US, I still follow the traditions of my family from Mexico.
 

Idontknow

Member
I have yet to find one source that states, any country having Christmas on December 24. I believe the confusion is some people are referring to Christmas as if it's an act(ion); they're saying opening presents, eating Christmas dinner...etc is them in the act of having "Christmas". But, just because your family chooses to open presents(or have the act of having "Christmas") on the 24th of Dec. doesn't make it Christmas day; that's your family choosing to open presents on the day before Christmas.

It's like when people celebrate someone's birthday on a day, that is not their actual birth date.
 

Trojan X

Banned
24th is Christmas. It is where you have Christmas dinner, dance around the Christmas tree and open your Christmas presents.

25th is not Christmas. For me it might as well be a Tuesday.

As a European I hope I have cleared things up so you can celebrate the birth of Christ correctly going forward.

As a european this is not true. Christmas eve is 24th. It is called christmas eve for a reason, like new year eve. Christmas day is the 25th. Some coutries like japan just don't know, especially as christmas time is just a happy festive season for them.

Oh. Merry Christmas! :)
 
Doesn't really matter when you celebrate it. My family celebrates it on both the 24th and the 25th, with my mother's family first then my father's, yet I don't go around saying Christmas is both days. Wikipedia is always right and says nothing about the 24th being Christmas Day anywhere.
 

Oersted

Member
I think this is a commonly mistake (but completely understandable, since it's extremely similar :)).

The American Santa Claus and Saint Nicholas, who we celebrate here in Europe at December 6, are not the same.

On-topic: we also celebrate at the 24th. The 25th is rather used to relax, staying together or meeting relatives/grandparents

The implication was the American one is a mistake, not that they are the same.
 

Goro Majima

Kitty Genovese Member
Christmas for me in the US usually ends at like noon no matter what. I've opened presents on the 24th and on the 25th before.

Just think about all the movies and stories...it's all about Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning!
 

MaulerX

Member
The 24th has never been Christmas. It is Christmas eve, and people celebrate on Christmas eve to bring in the actual Christmas day (25th) when the clock hits midnight. Some people start opening gifts at midnight (which is technically the 25th) or wait till the morning. Not sure what's so confusing about that.
 
Christmas Eve is with my parents and brothers, and then my cousins for dinner. Christmas is for my grandma's and brunch. It's a two-part holiday.
 

Lemaitre

Banned
Can confirm as a Hispanic that the eve is where shit goes down.

The actual day my fam and I tend to grab Chinese or eat out.
 
I just assumed people who opened gifts on the 24th were too impatient to wait for the morning.

Christmas is the 25th, but Christmas Eve is certainly just as special in my family.

(Raised Roman Catholic in small town Western Canada).
 
I'm Italian and Christman is the 25th,but some things of importance also happen on the 24th.

there is the Christmas eve dinner, while not as big or rich like the Christmas Lunch the day after it's still an important event. In theory (if you are a catholic believer) Christmas eve is a fasting day, so you shouldn't eat meat. This is just an excuse to have a big fish based dinner.

If you are religious there is the Midnight mass in the night between the 24th and the 25th.

You also open Christmas gifts either at midnight or in the morning of the 25th
 

Lemaitre

Banned
I just assumed people who opened gifts on the 24th were too impatient to wait for the morning.

Christmas is the 25th, but Christmas Eve is certainly just as special in my family.

(Raised Roman Catholic in small town Western Canada).

There is also the tradition of midnight mass. So opening presents after mass is a common tradition.
 

Mechazawa

Member
USA here.

You celebrate Christmas the night before, open presents at midnight and then lounge around eating leftover pulled pork sammiches the next day.
 

Idontknow

Member
Countries and cultures older than yours, maybe.

The modern version of christmas is a bastardisation of many many influences. Don't assume yours is the right one or the only one.

But, again there is not one source I can find, including Wikipedia, that states that Christmas falls on the 24th of Dec. in any country. Celebrating Christmas is not the same thing as it being Christmas.
 

Cartman86

Banned
Christmas Eve is for celebrating with extended family.
Christmas Day is for celebrating with your immediate family.

Yep this is me right now. Washington state, USA. It's all about convenience though. If there is one family get together it's the 24th. If it's three (like i had as a kid) then it spans the 24th and the 25th.
 

morningbus

Serious Sam is a wicked gahbidge series for chowdaheads.
There's some confusion here, I think somewhat based off the unintended dissonance between the OP's title and the content of the post.

Answering the title: nowhere to my knowledge celebrates Christmas Day on the 24th. Christmas Day is the 25th (with some exceptions where other religions celebrate in January).

Answering the actual post: some people, and, more broadly, some cultures, place greater emphasis on celebrating the holiday of Christmas on the 24th than the 25th. There can be many reasons, like that's what the popular culture in their area does or it's a weird tradition their grandparents started, but there should be no denying that Christmas Eve is the 24th and Christmas Day is the 25th.
 

Klocker

Member
Christmas Eve is for partying dinner and drinks with family...

Christmas morning, awakening on 25th, is for the gifts Christmas day is for relaxing with family and enjoying the spoils.
Opening presents on Christmas Eve (beyond one token gift) always stuck me as childish and showing no patience.


Unless you are splitting families and do two Christmas's one the 24 one the 25th.
 

KonradLaw

Member
Here in Poland Christmas is split into three days.
24th - Christmas eve..the night waiting for Christ's being born. This is the big family dinner (no meat though) and presents are given out once the first star appears on the sky. The most religious people go to church at midnight to celebrate the God's birth.
25th - First day of Christmas. All day celebration with family, coupled with visiting cementeries and church.
26th - Second day of Christmas - just hanging aroudn with family, possibly also visit to cementeris and chirsh

25th and 26th are work-free days. 24th the law says everything needs to be closed by AFAIR 2 PM. And 24th is considered the most important day out of the three
 

GrizzNKev

Banned
christmas is whenever the fuck you want it to be, because it's a pretend arbitrary thing with no actual meaning. work together as a team to come up with a compromise so everyone can enjoy themselves.
 
We have a foreign student staying with us this year. She's from somewhere in Europe (not getting specific) and she's from a country that celebrates Christmas on the 24th. I've seen this in other GAF threads so I know it's common.

Here in America this is alien to me. Christmas is December 25, says so right on the calendar. It always has been.

I get that other countries have different traditions and I'm not knocking her and her family for celebrating Christmas on the 24th (or whenever else they want). But she's being kind of aggressive about it, insisting that today (24th) is Christmas. It's starting to piss me off.

I get that she misses her family on Christmas so we're trying to be nice to her. She's been moping around all day. We bought her presents to open tomorrow morning, on freaking Christmas Day. But she's making me regret spending all this money on her.

Help me understand.

You got it wrong, she's right.

Little baby Jesus was born on the 24th of December 0AD at 3:45pm. Most English-speaking countries took the belief that it was 25th at 11:45 from a mistranslated ancient document found hundreds of years ago, and that tradition has maintained to the present day even though it's incorrect.
 
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