Some customs and traditions are maintained for the sake of the festivities, and the importance of clinging on to something familiar. Hense, this is a good time to talk about how Swedes celebrates birthdays. Each child has to prepare for this service for many months or even years ahead of time. June 2020. The outside of the birthday child’s house is adorned with blinking colored lights in the early evening. Apparently, this practice is for warding off bad luck. Australians celebrating a birthday often eat fairy bread, a rolled-up “pastry” simply consisting of buttered white bread with rainbow sprinkles on it. Swedes are not so sentimental and emotional, so Hallmarks birthday cards are not really a big deal for Swedes. The number of bumps given is the age of the child plus one for extra good luck. An advice is to ask someone to help with the serving part. The thirteenth birthday for a boy is when he celebrates his Bar Mitzvah, and the twelfth birthday for a girl is when she celebrates her Bat Mitzvah. Here is a list of different continents, countries and cultures and their own unique birthday traditions: In many African cultures, the day a child is born is not observed as a special day. Native American Birthday Traditions – Throughout history, Native American tribes have usually placed significance on milestones in a child’s development rather than the day he or she was born. These initiation ceremonies are celebrated for groups of children instead of individual children. ), on their birthday to symbolize longevity.
He studied journalism at Ithaca College and previously managed social media for CBS News. The day a child takes its first step is cause for just as much rejoicing as the day he or she accepts the responsibilities of an adult, gets married, becomes a parent, etc.
Brazilian kids take it a step further and throw not just flour, but also eggs at the birthday child. Flowers or chocolate works in Sweden too. Unlike in the United States, it’s the birthday boy or girl who pays for events and buys drinks for their friends in Italy, Germany and other European countries. At these parties children almost always receive fancy paper hats.
That will take us right to Midsummer, and into July, the month when the big majority of Swedes have vacation. On a person’s krada, he or she wakes up early and washes themselves using a special leaf soaked overnight in water (this is a cleansing ritual intended to purify the inner soul). In a similar vein, Canadians often get “greased” on their birthdays, which means their friends and relatives ambush them and smear butter on their noses. Another fairly well-known Latin American (primarily Mexican) birthday tradition involves beating an object with a stick until candy falls out. But Swedish culture is much more – food, music, fashion, film, gaming and sports.
Most families use the candles to represent how old a person is turning (and another one for good luck). In Germany, when men reach the age of 30 and they still don’t have a girlfriend, they have to sweep the stairs of the city hall. Following this ritual, family and friends come together for a feast and a naming ceremony. Usually on the day of the child’s birthday, a member of the birthday person’s family wakes up at sunrise and lights the candles on the birthday cake to be lit all day long. Guests are warned ahead of time as well, so that no one injures their teeth or swallows a tiny treasure. Taarties are tarts filled with fruit and topped with whipped cream, and they’re served on birthdays in the Netherlands. Nigerian Birthday Traditions – In Nigeria the 1st, 5th, 10th and 15th birthdays are considered extremely special events. Lithuanian Birthday Traditions – In Lithuania a garland is hung around the entire door of the home of the birthday person. The father puts on the birthday girl’s first pair of high heels and dances the waltz with her while 14 other girls and 14 other boys also dance the waltz. The purpose of giving a card is more just to show who the present is from. Children usually will play a game that features a clothesline.