The best big January festivals in the world for Christmas

With the end of December and the arrival of the New Year, the bell rings for the most important celebration of the year in most countries of the world. The New Year holiday begins on December 25 with the birth of Jesus Christ and continues until January 8. Of course, this general formula cannot be considered for all countries. The government of each country changes the number of days of this holiday according to the official culture and religion.

In Iran, as in a limited number of other countries, expressions such as Christmas, New Year's celebration, Baptism of Christ, etc. are not very familiar to people. But Iranians still use this rare opportunity and go to foreign countries to participate in the New Year celebration.

Mass, New Year's celebration in the main street of the city, music and dance festivals, etc. are almost fixed programs of the countries to celebrate the New Year. With the advancement of the boundaries of creativity in the minds of the people of every country, attractive festivals were added to these programs. In every country, a special celebration and festival is held so that the beginning of the New Year is an unforgettable memory for people. In this article, we take a look at the most famous big festivals in January. It is not surprising that after learning about these celebrations, your heart will feel tickled to travel!

Krampus Demons Parade Festival

As a general rule, swimming against the river can propel your idea to success. In simpler words, if you sometimes make a decision outside the framework and different from the customs, you will have a creative result. The people of Austria and Colombia have proven the correctness of this rule!

When in most cities and countries, a parade is held to show the holy characters of Christianity, other news is heard from Austria and Colombia! In the various parades of these countries, there are evil characters who compete fiercely with each other in being terrifying. The word Krampus is used to mean a person with claws and claws.

People dress up as scary Krampus characters in the Demon Parade of the big January festivals; Two long and twisted horns with sharp claws are part of Krampus character's costume. The way they walk during the parade reminds you of horror movies, whose images will always remind you of your lonely moments!

In the legends of Central Europe, the character Krampus is found only once during the New Year. Krampus goes to the children who did a lot of mischief last year. This demonic creature seeks to punish children so that they learn from their mistakes for the new year. Fortunately, there is no news of punishment at the Krampus Demons Parade Festival!

– Reindeer festival

Rudolph is the reindeer who pulls Santa's sleigh so that they are not late to give gifts to the children. If we get out of the hearts of legends, we can find reindeer in one of the most remote regions of Russia. The Reindeer Festival is held every year in January in Yamal, Russia. In this local festival, people take part in a ski race with their trained deer. They sit on skis like Santa Claus to get the reindeer to their destination as fast as possible.

Deer steak serving is one of the attractive parts of the festival. The taste of the best deer steak with a special Russian recipe must be tasted in January in Yamal, Russia! Various competitions are held in this festival. If you're good at ax throwing or tug-of-war, it might not hurt to test your skills against the native Russians.

Winning the sled jumping competition and throwing the rope around the running animals is not easy at all. You can lift the championship trophy in these competitions only when you have struggled with village life for a few years in the cold of Yamal.

– Santa's race

In January 2006, the Spanish Multiple Sclerosis Foundation held a competition with the aim of collecting charitable donations for patients in need. The race of Santas, or Santa Clauses, was born in Spain, and in the following years, its fame reached other cities. Now this competition is held at the same time as the Christmas celebration as one of the big festivals of January in most cities of the world from different continents such as Beijing, Greece, America, Russia, Germany, etc.

Volunteers participate in this competition by wearing a special red or green Santa costume. Walking a five or six kilometer race route for a large group of Santa Clauses with their beards and mustaches looks a little tough in the cold of January!

Maybe when you hear the name of Santa Claus, you imagine that only men are allowed to participate in this festival; Fortunately, there is no such rule for race two. To attend this festival, it is enough to have good health conditions. There is no age or gender restriction to participate in the competition of two Santa Clauses.

After the race, a medal of honor is presented to the winner. The cash prize of this competition, which is probably provided by ticket sales to the participants, will be deposited to the charities of each city according to the rules. This reminds us of Santa's goal, which is to make everyone happy at Christmas.

– Nationwide Light Festival in Christmas

In 1995, the people of Japan performed the Light Festival with the aim of helping the needy. The reception of this celebration was such that the Festival of Light is still held every year on Christmas Day. People of different countries, who were fascinated by such a celebration, added this festival to their New Year holiday celebrations.

In this celebration of the big festivals of January, people decorate a part of the city, including buildings, green spaces, etc., with light bulbs. By changing the color of these lamps, amazing shapes and designs are created. Holding street music concerts, local competitions, food and drink stalls, etc. make this festival livelier.

In the National Light Festival, the lighting is designed and engineered in the most professional way possible. Therefore, it can be said with certainty that you will also be lost in this magical festival.

– The celebration of the baptism of Jesus Christ

The last ceremony in the Christmas holidays is the baptism of Christ. This religious ceremony is held in all Christian communities. Churches around the world celebrate the baptism of Christ on January 6th. To participate in the most magnificent of these celebrations, it is better to travel to Yerevan. According to Armenians, the celebration of the baptism of Jesus is the most important religious ceremony in Armenia; They know the importance of this celebration even more than Christmas.

To participate in this great celebration, you must enter the church in the morning with Christians and light a candle in a special place. Then sit on the benches and pray with the priest. Remember that during the ceremony, you should not put your foot over the other's foot or work on your cell phone. Also, chewing gum and talking to others is considered disrespectful. During the ceremony, the choir plays church music.

After praying at the church altar and mass, the priest and a six-year-old child (a symbol of Yahya) go to a cup in the church and pour water into it with a smaller cup. Meanwhile, hymns and prayers from the Bible are also sung. The priest puts a crucifix in the cup and after reading some prayers, he takes it out of the cup and hands it to the child.

At the end of the ceremony, Christians take a piece of sweet bread and a container of holy water from the priest. Church servants also give gifts to children. It should be noted that the baptism ceremony is also held in the churches of Tehran and Isfahan.

– Great Christmas lantern festival

More than 100 years have passed since the first big Christmas lantern festival in the city of San Fernando, Philippines. On Christmas days, people from different cities and countries come to San Fernando to send lanterns to the sky. In the early years of this festival, the lanterns had a simpler and more primitive form. On the other hand, the flight of a large number of lanterns could cause a fire in the green space around the celebration venue.

With the passage of time, positive changes have been made in the process of holding the great Philippine Christmas lantern festival. A significant number of lanterns are lit by light bulbs and are not capable of flight. So that this decision does not cause a drop in the excitement of the festival, the shape of the lanterns was also changed. Currently, lanterns are made in various geometric shapes, miniature designs, Buddhist designs and other creative designs. The length of some of these lanterns reaches seven meters. More than five thousand lamps are used in the design and construction of such large lanterns.

Undoubtedly, participating in the big festivals of January will change your perspective on the local people of a region, religious ceremonies, etc. Attending these celebrations is more than just spending happy and fun moments. Don't forget to take your camera with you when traveling to watch these festivals!