Christmas in New Zealand facts for kids
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Christmas traditions in New Zealand are a special mix. They combine ideas from British and North American Christmases. These often show winter scenes, even though Christmas in New Zealand happens during summer! Because of the warm weather, some unique local traditions have grown.
New Zealand Christmas meals often include summer fruits and vegetables. You'll also find different meats and seafood. A popular dessert is pavlova, a yummy meringue cake. The pōhutukawa tree, which blooms red in summer, is also a special New Zealand Christmas tree. It stands alongside the more traditional Northern European Christmas tree.
Christmas (called Māori: Kirihimete in Māori) is on December 25. It became widely celebrated in the late 1800s by European settlers. Today, Christmas Day and Boxing Day are both public holidays. On Christmas Day, most shops and services must close. Only essential businesses stay open.
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How Christmas Started in New Zealand
The Christian festival of Christmas came to New Zealand in the early 1800s. Missionaries introduced it. Before Europeans arrived, Māori people did not have a similar festival. The first recorded Christmas service was in 1814. Reverend Samuel Marsden gave a sermon to about 400 Māori. This happened at Oihi Bay in the Bay of Islands. Māori chiefs Te Pahi and Ruatara invited him.
In the mid-1800s, how people celebrated Christmas varied. English and Irish settlers, who were mostly Anglicans and Catholics, brought their own traditions. Scottish settlers, however, did not celebrate Christmas widely. This was because the Scottish Presbyterian church did not focus much on Christmas. They felt it was not based on the Bible.
Later in the 1800s, Presbyterians began to celebrate Christmas more. As different groups mixed, Christmas became a holiday for all New Zealanders. It was a quiet, private event until the late 1900s.
Christmas Day became a public holiday in 1873. By 1894, all workers had the right to a day off for Christmas. The Public Holidays Act 1910 made Christmas Day and Boxing Day non-working days.
Christmas Decorations and Symbols
New Zealanders use both traditional winter Christmas images and local symbols. Native plants like ferns and flaxes are displayed. These are often seen with traditional Christmas flowers like mistletoe, and also stars and angels.
The pōhutukawa tree is a very common Christmas symbol. It grows large, bright red flowers in December. Because of this, the pōhutukawa is known as the New Zealand Christmas tree.
Many homeowners decorate the outside of their houses. Some displays are simple, while others are very grand. They might have hundreds of lights and decorations. These often show Christmas trees, Santa Claus, reindeer, or nativity scenes. Some areas are famous for their amazing displays. People often visit these streets to see the lights. This happens even though the days are long in summer. Dusk can be as late as 10:20 p.m. in the south of New Zealand.
Delicious Christmas Food
Families usually gather for a Christmas Day lunch. Eating a formal meal indoors is still common. However, barbecue lunches have become very popular since the 2000s. In 2019, about 43% of New Zealanders had a barbecue for Christmas lunch.
Christmas lunches often include lamb, ham, and beef. Root vegetables like potato and kūmara (sweet potato) are also popular. Many different salads are served too. Because of the warm summer weather, cold meats and seafood (like eel) are also popular.
Some people still enjoy traditional foods from the Northern Hemisphere. These include turkey and brussels sprouts. For sweet treats, you might find British Christmas desserts. These include Christmas cake, Christmas pudding, fruit mince pies, and trifle. Local desserts like pavlova are also very popular. Pavlova is often topped with fresh summer fruits like strawberries, raspberries, or kiwifruit.
Christmas Parades and Carols
New Zealand hosts several Christmas parades. A very popular event is Auckland's Santa Parade. It goes down Queen Street. This parade has many floats and marching bands. It attracts huge crowds every year. The parade is held in late November. It marks the start of the holiday season.
The tradition of Carols by Candlelight is also popular. Especially in Auckland and Christchurch. Here, large outdoor carol-singing events happen. These are known as Christmas in the Park.
Christmas Shopping Season
The time leading up to Christmas is the busiest shopping season in New Zealand. In the six weeks before Christmas 2019, people spent a lot of money. Over $8.6 billion was spent through one payment network alone. On Christmas Eve 2019, this network handled 199 transactions every second at its busiest time.
Black Friday sales started in New Zealand in 2013. Retailers began offering these deals to compete with online stores from the US. By 2015, big stores like The Warehouse, Noel Leeming, and Harvey Norman had Black Friday sales. By 2018, others like Farmers, JB Hi-Fi, Briscoes, and Rebel Sport joined in. In 2019, Black Friday spending was higher than Boxing Day spending for the first time.
Christmas on TV
Since Christmas is in summer, watching a lot of television is not as big a tradition as in colder countries. Most regular TV shows stop from mid-December until mid-to-late January. On Christmas Day, no advertising is allowed on New Zealand television or radio. This rule also applies on Good Friday and Easter Sunday.
Many TV channels show Christmas-themed films. They play these in the weeks before and on Christmas Day.
TVNZ 1 broadcasts the Royal Christmas Message. This message is shown at 6:50 p.m. It has been broadcast on television since at least 1961.
