Christmas celebrations in Greece typically involve caroling from door to door in the weeks leading up to December 23rd, when school holidays begin. On Christmas Eve, families attend morning mass and have a large feast at noon that usually includes roast turkey or chicken, salads, and sweets like "kourabiedes" and "melomakarona". New Year's Eve is celebrated with food and music in town squares and homes. Traditions include singing songs at midnight to mark the new year and cutting a "Vasilopita" pie with a coin inside for luck. Epiphany on January 6th involves a priest blessing the waters by throwing a cross in the sea for people to retrieve.

1. Christmas celebrations in
Greece and at our school
11th Primary school of
Alexandroupoli, Greece

2. We’d like to tell you a few things about what we do at Christmas time in Greece.
Christmas holidays for schools start on 23rd December. On Christmas Eve children go
caroling. They go from door to door and sing carols which can be translated like this:
Good morning merry gentlemen,
And if you really want
Christ’s holy birth
Will be announced to your home
The students of our school
sing Carols on the last day
before Christmas holidays
and go to every class .

3. At school we have a big celebration
with theatrical plays and Greek and
English Christmas songs by our choir

5. With Our Comenius friends we
exchanged cards with wishes for a
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

6. Traditional food at
Christmas
• People give money or sweets
which children later share .
Christmas mass at church starts
at 5:00 in the morning on
Christmas Day and finishes at
about 8:00. Then, the whole
family gathers and they start
preparing Christmas supper
which is actually eaten at noon.
We usually have roast turkey or
chicken stuffed with minced
meat and rice , a lot of different
salads and for dessert we have
“kourabiedes” and
“melomakarona”. “Kourabiedes”
are a kind of biscuit with
almonds inside, covered in
grated sugar and look like
snowballs and “melomakarona “
are sweets made of honey –
“meli” means honey .

7. New Year’s Day celebrations
• On New Year’s Eve children also go caroling. In our
town there is a tradition on New Year’s Eve. Every
café, restaurant, supermarket, shop offers meat
,cheese wine and other things and there are
barbecues in almost every corner of the town centre.
Everybody is invited to eat and drink in the streets
while music is played and people have fun. In the
evening people usually gather at homes, in
restaurants ,hotels and clubs, especially those with
live music.
• At 12:00 everybody sings:
• The old year goes by/Come on, kids, let’s
celebrate/and may the pain of separation/sleep in
our hearts/ Happy New year!!/ Happy and Golden
New Year’s Day!!

8. Then , we cut “Vasilopita” –Saint Vasilios’s pie. There is a coin
hidden inside and the one who gets the piece with it , will be the
lucky one of the year. Traditionally, presents are opened on New
Year’s Day, although most people nowadays open them on
Christmas Day.
In Greece, Santa Claus is Saint Vasilios , a saint who dedicated his
life to poor people just like Saint Nicholas. Saint Vasilios is the one
who brings the presents to us! On that day many people go first
footing and visit relatives and friends to wish them luck and good
health.

9. Customs in our town on New Year’s Eve
• People dressed in
traditional costumes
perform the custom of
“kamila” -camel- in the
streets of our town

10. January 6th –Epiphany Day
• On 6th January we celebrate
Epiphany-Christ’s baptism.
After the mass at church ,
people gather at the port of
the town .The priest throws
the Cross into the water and
some men and women fall
into the cold water in order
to catch it. The one who
manages to get the cross will
be the blessed one of the
year.
• The next day, January 7th is
the last day of our holidays.
It is Saint John’s day. John –
Giannis in Greek- is one of
the most common names
in Greece .

11. KAΛΗ ΧΡΟΝΙΑ
(KALI CHRONIA)
ΗΑPPY NEW YEAR