The month of December The
Christmas celebrations in Sweden usually starts with the first Advent in the end of November. However Christmas decorations and
julmust might go on sale in stores much earlier, often directly after
All Saints Day. At this time many people start to plan their Christmas and start buying gifts. On December 1, the first episode of the
Christmas calendar airs on television and radio. The 13th of December is Lucia where most of the children and some adults dress up and have processions in preschool, school and companies. The third and fourth Advent is important for many families as many preparations are done then. Baking and cooking are common activities. Many preschools and schools start their Christmas vacation between December 17 to 22. Many workplaces start the vacation later, between December 20 and 23. The start of the vacation depends on what day of the week Christmas Eve is on. The last days before Christmas Eve, between December 20 and 23, the greatest preparations are made, including preparing most of the food, buying and decorating the Christmas tree and wrapping presents. During the last days there are usually many people in stores and shopping malls to buy items for the Christmas celebrations. After Christmas Eve there are two public holidays:
juldagen (Christmas Day) and
annandag jul (Boxing Day). Most of the families have holiday and are free from work, but some workplaces can start the work again in the days before New Year's Eve. After the New Year's Eve the schools usually have at least a week before the spring term starts, but workplaces often start the work again a couple of days after the new year. Many Swedes visit the service on
Advent Sunday, the
Midnight Mass on December 24 or the Christmas Matins in the early hours of Christmas Day (
Julotta).
Christmas tree The story of the Christmas tree originated in
Holy Roman Empire (Germany) in the 16th century. During the 17th and 18th centuries the Christmas tree started being dressed with candles. The first Swedish Christmas trees were generally decorated with live candles and treats such as fruit and candy. Apples were often hung on the branches where the candles were located to make them more parallel to the ground. It soon became more common for families to make their own decorations with paper and straw. Some families preferred to build a
Ljuskrona decorated with cut paper. From around 1880, commercial Christmas tree decorations were readily available in larger Swedish cities, the finest of which were imported from Germany. The day that people in Sweden buy and dress their Christmas tree varies greatly from family to family, but most have them dressed on 13 December and throw them out by 13 January. Commonly used decorations today include: baubles, candles, apples, Swedish flags, small gnomes, and straw ornaments. The house may be filled with red tulips and the smell of
pepparkakor – a heart-star, or goat-shaped gingerbread biscuits.
St. Knut's Day (13 January) marks the end of the Swedish
Christmas and holiday season. Children, especially, may celebrate it with a
Knut's party.
Jultomten Jultomten, or just
tomten, is the being who brings the gifts at
Julafton (the evening of December 24). The gifts are called
julklappar, and are probably a modern version of the
Yule log.
Jultomten does not climb down the chimney, he delivers the gifts in person. This task is often performed by an old man who secretly dresses up as
Jultomten and knocks at the door with a sack of gifts. The origin of the modern
Jultomte is a hybridisation between the pre-Christian being called
Tomte and the (originally Dutch)
Santa Claus. A
Tomte is mostly portrayed as a small, gnomelike spirit being who lives on a farm and takes care of it (or the family) while the farmer family are asleep. He might be a gift giver if the farmers treat him and the livestock correctly. The
tomte is an echo of ancient
ancestral cult. It is thought that the
tomte was considered a spirit of previous generations at the homestead, and there are references to them following the family/clan, when they move. Despite its different cultural roots, the
Jultomte (
Tomte of
Jul) is today portrayed similarly to the commonly known image of Santa Claus.
Julotta In Sweden, many people attend a traditional early morning church service called
Julotta on Christmas Day (December 25). The service is held before sunrise, typically around 7 AM. Historically, people would travel to church in horse-drawn sleighs through the snowy landscape. Although church attendance has declined in modern Sweden,
Julotta remains an important tradition for many families, particularly in rural areas.
Tjugondag Knut Christmas celebrations in Sweden officially end on
Tjugondag Knut (St. Knut’s Day) on January 13. On this day, families remove Christmas decorations and throw out the Christmas tree in a festivity known as
Julgransplundring (Christmas tree plundering). Children often get to eat the last remaining candy decorations from the tree, and in some households, small parties are held to mark the conclusion of the holiday season.
Food and drink The foods served in Sweden during Christmastime differ per region. But here, too, homogenisation has set in, due in no small part to the uniform offerings of the department stores and the ready availability of convenience foods. Few have time to salt their own hams or stuff their own pork sausages nowadays. The traditional main meal on Christmas Eve is a smorgasbord called
julbord which has been prepared with all the classic dishes. A good quality restaurant would typically serve more than fifty (or even a hundred) different dishes at a julbord. A family-julbord being much smaller. A traditional
julbord is typically eaten buffet style in five to seven courses (depending on local and family traditions). The first three courses are usually fish-courses. The first plate is an assortment of different pickled herrings served with sour cream and chives. The second is a variety of cold fish, particularly several kinds of lox (e.g.
gravlax). And the third plate is hot fish-dishes – particularly
lutfisk. Other traditional dishes would be (smoked) eel,
rollmops, herring salad, baked herring, smoked salmon, smoked
char and shellfish
canapés, accompanied by sauces and dips. The fourth course is often a selection of cold sliced meats, the most important cold cut being the
Christmas ham (
julskinka) with mustard. Other traditional cuts include smoked sausages,
leverpastej, wild game cuts, smoked leg of lamb (
fårfiol), pâtés and several types of
brawn (
sylta). It is also common to serve the cold meats with sliced cheese, pickled
cucumbers and soft (vörtbröd) and
crisp breads. The fifth course would be warm dishes (
småvarmt). Traditionally, the fifth course begins with soaking bread in the
stock from the Christmas ham, which is called
dopp i grytan. Warm dishes include Swedish
meatballs (
köttbullar), small fried hot dog sausages (
prinskorv), roasted
pork ribs (
revbensspjäll), pork sausages (
fläskkorv), potato sausages (
potatiskorv), and
Janssons frestelse (literally "Jansson's Temptation") – a warm potato casserole, matchstick potatoes layered with cream, onion and
sprats. Side dishes include
beetroot salad in mayonnaise and warm stewed red, green or brown
cabbage and boiled potatoes. The sixth and seventh course is a cheese plate and a dessert plate. Julbord cheeses include
stilton,
cheddar,
västerbottenost and Christmas
edammer. Desserts include
rosettes (
struvor),
klenäts (
klenäter),
polkagrisar,
knäck,
dates,
figs,
ischoklad,
saffron buns,
mandelmusslor,
gingerbread cookies, marzipan figures, different kinds of nuts,
risalamande and most importantly
rice pudding (
risgrynsgröt) sprinkled with
cinnamon powder. Traditionally, an
almond is hidden in the bowl of rice pudding and whoever finds it receives a small prize or is recognised for having good luck. A julbord often also include local and family specialties. Among them are
isterband, baked beans,
omelette with shrimps or mushrooms covered with béchamel sauce,
äggost, saffranspannkaka, långkål, rörost, ostkaka, kroppkakor and julgädda. Beer and the occasional
snaps,
brännvin or
akvavit are common beverages to this Christmas meal. The seasonal soft drink
julmust is also served at the julbord, as well as during the whole Christmas holiday. The Christmas ham is either boiled or broiled and then painted and glazed with a mixture of egg, breadcrumbs and mustard.
Lutfisk, lyed fish made of stockfish (dried
ling or
cod), is served with boiled potato, thick
white sauce or mustard sauce, green peas and sometimes cubed bacon. More and more families opt to eat Lutfisk as dinner the day before or after Christmas Eve rather than as a dish among other at the Julbord. While the julbord is meant to be eaten in several courses a lot of swedes simply mixes the different dishes they like. One reason for this is that many families only prepare a small julbord with "just the essentials". Julbord is served from early December until just before Christmas at restaurants and until
Epiphany in some homes. Mulled wine
glögg,
gingerbread cookies and
saffron buns are served throughout December. ==Television==