{"id":5458,"date":"2025-05-13T22:38:43","date_gmt":"2025-05-13T10:38:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.publicholidaycalendar.com\/?p=5458"},"modified":"2025-05-13T22:38:43","modified_gmt":"2025-05-13T10:38:43","slug":"how-holidays-are-celebrated-differently-around-the-world-compared-to-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.publicholidaycalendar.com\/en\/how-holidays-are-celebrated-differently-around-the-world-compared-to-america\/","title":{"rendered":"How Holidays Are Celebrated Differently Around the World Compared to America"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"How<\/p>\n

Hey there, holiday lovers! It’s your friendly Holiday Little Assistant back with another juicy topic. Today we’re tackling a question that’s been popping up a lot lately: How do other countries celebrate holidays differently than America?<\/b> Trust me, once we dive into this, you’ll see just how wild and wonderful global festivities can get!<\/p>\n

1. Christmas: More Than Just Santa and Shopping<\/h2>\n

Y\u2019all think Christmas is all about roast turkey and presents under the tree? Think again! While Americans go big on decorations and Black Friday sales, other countries have their own spins. In Japan, it\u2019s all about KFC (seriously, Colonel Sanders is basically Santa there). Over in Spain, they\u2019ve got the crazy \u201cCaga Ti\u00f3\u201d \u2013 a poop-log that \u201cgifts\u201d candy when kids hit it with sticks. And let\u2019s not forget Australia, where Santa surfs to beach barbecues in board shorts! Meanwhile, Americans… well, we\u2019re busy arguing about Starbucks cups.<\/p>\n

2. New Year\u2019s Eve: Fireworks vs. Grapes vs. Broken Plates<\/h2>\n

Times Square\u2019s ball drop? Classic. But worldwide, NYE gets weird (in the best way). Spaniards gobble 12 grapes at midnight\u2014one for each chime\u2014for good luck. Danes literally JUMP into the new year by standing on chairs and leaping at midnight (safety last, apparently). In South Africa, they chuck old furniture out windows (yes, really). Meanwhile, Greeks smash plates for good fortune. Try explaining THAT to your landlord!<\/p>\n

3. Thanksgiving: It\u2019s Not Just a US Thing (But It\u2019s WAY Different)<\/h2>\n

Sorry folks, we didn\u2019t invent thanking harvests\u2014we just added football and food comas. Canada does Thanksgiving too… in OCTOBER (mind blown!). Liberia celebrates it because of American influence, but with African flavors like roasted goat. Meanwhile, Germany\u2019s \u201cErntedankfest\u201d involves church parades and giant… veggie crowns? And let\u2019s not get started on how the Brits side-eye our \u201cpilgrim\u201d narrative.<\/p>\n

4. Halloween: Trick-or-Treating Isn\u2019t Universal<\/h2>\n

Americans spend $10 billion on costumes and candy, but Mexico\u2019s D\u00eda de los Muertos puts our plastic skeletons to shame. Graves become picnic spots with marigolds and favorite foods of the departed. In China, the Hungry Ghost Festival involves burning paper money for ancestors. And Ireland\u2014where Halloween began\u2014still lights bonfires and bakes \u201cbarmbrack\u201d cakes with creepy trinkets baked inside. Meanwhile, some European countries think pumpkins are strictly for soup!<\/p>\n

5. National Holidays That\u2019ll Make You Go \u201cWait, What?!\u201d<\/h2>\n

Fourth of July has nothing on these:
\n– Spain\u2019s Tomatina Festival: 20,000 people hurling 150 tons of tomatoes (glorious messy chaos).
\n– Thailand\u2019s Songkran: A three-day water fight that\u2019s basically the world\u2019s biggest squirt gun battle.
\n– Iceland\u2019s \u201cB\u00f3ndadagur\u201d: Men get spoiled with pancakes… then expected to do chores (sneaky!).
\n– Japan\u2019s \u201cComing of Age Day\u201d: 20-year-olds wear thousand-dollar kimonos… then hit the bars legally for the first time.<\/p>\n

The Bottom Line?<\/b> While Americans love our parades and retail holidays, the world\u2019s got celebrations that\u2019ll make your jaw drop. Whether it\u2019s dancing with skeletons or chucking cinnamon at singles (looking at you, Denmark), holidays remind us that culture shapes joy in endlessly surprising ways.<\/p>\n

FAQpro here\u2014thanks for hanging out! Now go impress someone with your new \u201cweird global holiday\u201d knowledge. Got a favorite international tradition? Slide into our DMs and school us! \ud83c\udf89<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hey there, holiday lovers! It’s your friendly Holiday Little Assistant back with another juicy topic. Today we’re tackling a question that’s been popping up a lot lately: How do other countries celebrate holidays differently than America? Trust me, once we dive into this, you’ll see just how wild and wonderful global festivities can get! 1….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5457,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"slim_seo":{"title":"How Holidays Are Celebrated Differently Around the World Compared to America - Public Holiday Calendar","description":"Hey there, holiday lovers! It's your friendly Holiday Little Assistant back with another juicy topic. Today we're tackling a question that's been popping up a l"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[278],"tags":[4763,4761,4764,2509,4762],"class_list":["post-5458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-cultural-holiday-differences","tag-holiday-traditions-worldwide","tag-international-holiday-customs","tag-unique-celebrations","tag-us-vs-global-holidays"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.publicholidaycalendar.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.publicholidaycalendar.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.publicholidaycalendar.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.publicholidaycalendar.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.publicholidaycalendar.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5458"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.publicholidaycalendar.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5458\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5459,"href":"https:\/\/www.publicholidaycalendar.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5458\/revisions\/5459"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.publicholidaycalendar.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.publicholidaycalendar.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.publicholidaycalendar.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.publicholidaycalendar.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}