Christmas in New Zealand

However, even the customs New Zealand shares with other commonwealth countries are adapted to local cultural peculiarities.

New Zealanders are blessed with warm weather at Christmas time and like to spend holidays outdoors, enjoying the island’s incredible nature and participating in summer activities.

Although so different from the rest of the world, Christmas in New Zealand doesn’t lack a festive atmosphere. If you’re looking for unique experiences, consider adding New Zealand to your winter getaway list.

Christmas Food

Winter in New Zealand is a warm time, so locals don’t need to sit at home near the fireplace. Instead, locals embrace the great weather by celebrating Christmas outdoors with a traditional barbecue.

Christmas barbecue tradition isn’t limited to New Zealand – it’s observed in many regions in the Southern Hemisphere, including Australia and African countries. However, New Zealand Christmas food is unique.

New Zealanders make Christmas ham with tropical fruits and cocktail cherries rather than spices. Often, Kiwis serve exotic meat like venison and reptiles or fish.

Often, meats and seafood are served cold. The most popular side dishes are sweet potatoes and root vegetables.

Stuffed turkey and brussels sprouts were common in New Zealand in the past, but local traditions have been taking over British customs recently. Still, New Zealanders can’t give up Christmas pudding and fruit mince pies.

Pavlova dessert is a must-have for the Kiwi Christmas feast, made with light, crunchy meringue, whipped cream, and fresh fruits and berries. Some New Zealanders find sweets too heavy for hot weather and prefer fruit salad, jelly, or ice cream.

Because of the climate, mulled wine and eggnog aren’t popular in New Zealand. Locals prefer tropical cocktails such as Mai Tai, Manhattan, and alcoholic slushies with fruit juices.

During lunch, New Zealanders customarily wear Santa hats despite the heat. Crackers are a must on the Kiwi Christmas table, which isn’t surprising considering that they originated in the United Kingdom.

Interestingly, many New Zealanders have a traditional English-style “Christmas” dinner in June or July.

Gift Exchange & Kiwi Santa

Like most Christians, New Zealanders exchange gifts with their loved ones on Christmas Day. The most popular Christmas gift is sandals because Kiwi Santa Claus wears them instead of black boots to avoid sweating in the hot climate.

Santa Claus in New Zealand isn’t much different from American Santa, attire aside. He also rides a sleigh pulled by reindeer, and local children often leave out pineapple for Santa and carrots for his furry friends.

Santa in New Zealand doesn’t enter homes through the chimney because Kiwis don’t need fireplaces. Instead, he leaves gifts under the Christmas tree. Local shopping malls welcome kids to meet Santa and take pictures with him.

New Zealanders who live far from home send their loved ones Christmas cards. Christmas cards in New Zealand don’t feature holiday characters like snowmen and reindeer but tattooed Maori figures, tiki, kiwi, and ferns.

Special Christmas Trees

New Zealanders don’t decorate balsam firs and pines like Americans and Europeans because evergreen coniferous trees aren’t widespread in the region. Instead, they have a unique alternative to Christmas trees – Pohutukawa.

Pohutukawa, also known as Christmas bush, is a native to New Zealand plant from the myrtle family. The tree has fiery red flowers and lively green leaves. Some varieties of Pohutukawa have yellow, orange, or white flowers.

New Zealanders even have a Christmas song about Pohutukawa composed by Ted Forsman, beloved by local children. However, Kiwis don’t put up Pohutukawa decorated with baubles and tinsel in their homes.

The bush grows in gardens, parks, and beaches around the country. New Zealanders put up traditional Christmas trees for interior decorations, usually faux ones, adorned with festive ornaments and fairy lights.

Politically Incorrect Games

New Zealanders know how to have fun, but many Americans wouldn’t understand their entertainment. Most New Zealand Christmas games originated in the 1950s, when the world was different.

Although Kiwis still play these games, they haven’t stood the test of time well and can even be considered politically incorrect. Let’s take the “Light the cigarette race” game.

Men and women are paired off and stand at different ends of the room. Men get cigarettes, and women get matches. Men should run towards the women, light their cigarettes, and return to their position.

Women are not allowed to strike the matches on the matchbox but only against each other. Whoever returns first with his cigarette still lighted is the winner. Perhaps, the C.D.C. would disapprove of such amusement.

Another old game that didn’t age well is “The slave market” – we won’t even get into it. Such games are rapidly losing popularity but are still widespread among older generations.

Carolling

Being a former British colony, New Zealand adopted many British Christmas traditions, including caroling. Some New Zealand Christmas carols are familiar to every American, including Twelve Days of Christmas and Silent Night.

However, all hymns are adapted to local peculiarities, and many are translated into the Maori language. Children sing hymns in churches, at holiday events in parks and malls, and at neighbors’ doorsteps.

Some songs are unique to the region – for example, Sticky Beak the Kiwi, recorded by Kiwi Records. Interestingly, the song doesn’t narrate the nativity story but promotes workers’ rights.

Other famous New Zealand Christmas songs include The Jersey Cow Came Mooing, Kiwiana Christmas, An Upside-Down Christmas, Christmas Begins with You, and Summer Wonderland (a winter wonderland just isn’t relevant for New Zealand situated in the Southern Hemisphere).

Parades

Starting with November, New Zealanders organize Christmas parades where locals dress up as Santa Clauses, create elaborate floats, and play traditional music. Christmas parades take place in every large New Zealand town.

The tradition originated in the early 20th century when department stores held parades to promote in-store Santas, who at that time weren’t yet as popular in New Zealand as in the U.S.

In the 1930s, local department stores actively competed in creativity – Christchurch store Armstrong’s had Santa Claus travel on an elephant, and D.I.C. store had Santa arrive by airplane.

By the 1980s, parades became too expensive for department stores to organize, but the tradition was already rooted in New Zealand’s culture, so charitable trusts took over hosting Christmas events.

Nowadays, parades heavily rely on sponsors and are often criticized for being overly commercial. But who cares if they exude the festive spirit?

Christmas Decorations

Christmas decorations in New Zealand are a blend of traditional Northern Hemisphere holiday symbols, biblical motifs, and tropical imagery. Kiwis decorate their homes with native flowers, ferns, and flaxes alongside mistletoe and evergreen boughs.

Many New Zealanders decorate their house exteriors with fairy lights and festive displays, but the custom isn’t as widespread as in the U.S.

Public places always set up creative holiday scenes, and locals love to walk around the town at night, appreciating the atmosphere. Christmas wreaths aren’t as popular as in the U.S., but nativity scenes are common.

Because evergreen coniferous trees aren’t as widespread in New Zealand as in the Northern Hemisphere, Christmas trees on city squares are usually made from string lights, metal, or plastic.

Church Services

Many New Zealanders attend the Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve to commemorate the birth of Jesus. Midnight Mass in New Zealand involves reading biblical passages, singing hymns, and praying.

The largest Midnight Masses in New Zealand take place in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Auckland, St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Dunedin, Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in Christchurch, and Metropolitan Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Wellington.

But since New Zealand is a relatively large country with scarce cathedrals, some locals prefer to watch the Midnight Mass at home on television instead of traveling.

Queen’s Speech

New Zealand is a commonwealth country, so Kiwis consider listening to the annual Queen’s Christmas Day broadcast equally important as attending the festive church services.

In 1953, the Queen recorded her Christmas message to the people of the commonwealth from the Government House in Auckland but hadn’t since spent the winter holidays in New Zealand.

Boxing Day

December 26 in New Zealand is celebrated as Boxing Day and is a public holiday. According to historical records, the tradition of celebrating Boxing Day occurred in commonwealth countries in the 19th century.

Queen Victoria of England would box and hand out gifts to her servants after Christmas celebrations, and the custom has stuck among the upper classes. Over time, it transformed into a day of relaxation after festivities.

New Zealanders spend Boxing Day with their families or friends, tanning on the beach, playing soccer, or watching television. Some locals use their free time to explore the beautiful nature of their homeland.

Most businesses are still closed on Boxing Day, but some stores have adopted the American tradition of Boxing Day sales. Many Kiwis can’t miss their chance to buy goods with up to 80% discount.