Yuletide in Australia may not feature much snowfall, or chestnuts roasting on open fires, but we are far from the quirkiest place on the planet when it comes to Christmas customs.
The Yule Lads, Iceland
Icelandic kids don’t wait for one Santa — they get thirteen. In the two weeks before Christmas, the mischievous Yule Lads, roam the country causing cheeky chaos. Each has a name and personality, from Spoon-Licker, Sausage-Swiper, Doorway-Sniffer and Curd-Gobbler to the slightly creepy Window-Peeper. Children leave shoes on their windowsills, where good kids find small gifts, while the naughty ones wake up to something far less festive: a rotting potato instead of holiday cheer there.
The pooper and the pooping log, Catalonia
For reasons known only to Catalonia, Christmas there comes with not one but two toilet-themed traditions. First is the caganer — a pants-down figurine quietly doing his business, proudly placed in nativity scenes. Then there’s the caga tió, a smiling log fed treats all December, wrapped in a blanket, and beaten on Christmas Eve until it “poops” presents — with adults secretly supplying the goods while kids step away to pray.
Kentucky Fried Christmas, Japan
Introducing one of Christmas’s strangest marketing victories since Coca-Cola helped lock in Santa’s red suit. Christmas wasn’t always a big deal in Japan, until a wildly successful KFC campaign in the 1970s convinced families that fried chicken was the festive meal of choice. Today, buckets of “Christmas chicken” are so popular that KFC reservations and special holiday orders are booked months ahead — proving marketing really can change tradition.
Krampus, Austria
As if missing out on presents wasn’t punishment enough, naughty Austrian kids also face Krampus — a horned, hairy demon who acts as Saint Nicholas’ terrifying enforcer. Legend says he stuffs misbehaving children into his wicker basket. Every December 5, alpine towns celebrate Krampusnacht, with locals dressing as the half-goat beast and storming the streets, rattling chains and brandishing sticks. Suddenly, a simple lump of coal sounds far less traumatic.
La Befana, Italy
Italian Christmas comes with a wine-loving witch — and no, not that relative. On January 5, the eve of Epiphany, families leave out wine and sausages for La Befana, who flies in on her broomstick. Folklore says she once declined the Three Wise Men’s invitation, then regretted it so deeply she now roams Italy searching for the Christ child. Along the way, she delivers presents to good kids and coal to the naughty ones.
