We may celebrate the holidays with Santa, menorahs, and popping champagne corks at New Year's - but there are many other holiday customs and traditions around the world. Here are some articles that explore how the rest of the globe celebrates the holidays...
Chanukah Customs Around the WorldIn southern France, the Jews of Avignon celebrate Shabbat by opening new casks of wine (naturally!), and in North Africa, the seventh night of Chanukah is a special celebration of women. Here are some other ways that Chanukah is celebrated.
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Holiday TraditionsClick on any country in this extensive list to find out how holidays - especially Christmas - are celebrated, the greeting in the native language - and even how to decorate in the country's custom.
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Photo: Flickr/Meena Kadri
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Top 10 Things Others Do at ChristmasOn January 5th in Italy, children wait for a witch named La Banfana to bring candy, while in Australia, families may eat Christmas dinner on the beach. Venezuela, France, Brazil and more are also included.
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New Year's CustomsIn which country do people eat 12 grapes at midnight to ensure good luck for the New Year? Or drop molten lead into water to predict events for the upcoming year? Find out here.
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Sheep Thrills: Senegal's "Idol"-Style Pageant for Rams
In Senegal, sheep and ram are prized as pets, and are a great source of pride amongst their owners. An enterprising media impresario, Marianne Bathily, has created an "American Idol"-style TV show - "Khar Bii" (This Sheep) - which enables sheep and ram owners to compete for prizes for the best animal. The show has become wildly successful, with over 9000 Facebook fans, and a massive volume of entries.
"It's a serious competition," Bathily says. "It is even having an economic impact [in Senegal]. Because for all the people who are participating in Khar Bii, it is a seal of quality. It's creating value. You will be selling your sheep with more value. The lamb will be of more value."
"It's a serious competition," Bathily says. "It is even having an economic impact [in Senegal]. Because for all the people who are participating in Khar Bii, it is a seal of quality. It's creating value. You will be selling your sheep with more value. The lamb will be of more value."
Portraits of China's People (and Their Possessions)In Huang Qingjun’s photographs, Chinese people stand in front of their homes, surrounded by all of their worldly possessions. They are starkly intimate portraits of lives in a country getting rich fast, but one where hundreds of millions still struggle to get by.
“Belongings,” an exhibition of Mr. Huang’s work that went on display in Beijing earlier this year, is meant to show people within their environment, both outside and inside their homes. |
Photo: Huang Qingjun
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“I wanted to show ordinary people. Show them in their environment and at home, the connection,” says photographer Huang Qingjun. “Because China is a place that is changing.” |
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Watch Exploring the Lives of Ukrainian Biracial Orphans on PBS. See more from Global Voices. |
"Family Portrait in Black and White": Exploring the Lives of Ukrainian Biracial OrphansAn inheritance from the Soviet era, a stigma persists in the Ukraine against interracial relationships, and against children born as the result of romantic encounters between Ukrainian girls and exchange students from Africa.
This fascinating documentary chronicles Olga Nenya, who has adopted 23 biracial children, and the challenges that the children face in this culture. |