Christmas+in+Peru

Christmas in Peru

Peru’s large population is made up of mostly Roman Catholics, making Christmas time in Peru very important. North Americans normally celebrate Christmas on December 25, but Peru actually mostly celebrates on Christmas Eve. It’s known as // Noche Buena // or Good Night. Attending church is probably the most important part of the Christmas Eve celebration, the Peruvians attend the // Misa De Gallo // or Rooster Mass, which starts at 10pm. The families come back at 12am to toast to baby Jesus’ birth with sparkling wine and other drinks. Then the main celebration starts with a large roast turkey dinner and end with exchanging presents.

Food plays a huge part in Peruvian Christmas. Along with the roast turkey dinner comes a variety of side dishes and salads. Most of the food has the Peruvian flare and is very spicy with Aji hot sauce available on the side. Children toast hot chocolate with cinnamon and cloves while the adults toast with Champagne. For dessert they usually eat Paneton, a Peruvian fruitcake. After dinner many go out to the streets to greet neighbors and friends to have the celebration continue. Fireworks are everywhere and can be seen all night, even though they are technically illegal. After the kids finish opening their presents and watching the light show they head to bed. This is when real party starts for the adults, they end up putting on their dancing shoes to salsa the night away. These celebrations can last until late night or early mornings which is why they don’t celebrate as much on Christmas day.

By: Joanna James