• Christmas is celebrated to remember the birth of Jesus Christ, who Christians believe was the son of God. 
• The name ‘Christmas’ comes from the Mass of Christ (or Jesus). A Mass service is where Christians remember that Jesus died and came back to life. The ‘Christ-Mass’ service was the only one that was allowed to take place after sunset (and before sunrise the next day) so it would be held at midnight. ‘Christ-Mass’ is then shortened to the word ‘Christmas’.

Christmas traditions from around the world

• Many households in Japan celebrate Christmas by ordering KFC!
• In Central Europe, many eat Carp on Christmas Eve, letting it live in the bathtub for a few days before cooking it. The scales are said to bring luck and good fortune for the year ahead!
• In Mexico, Nochebuena is celebrated on Christmas Eve, which includes a feast, singing and dancing and a pinata for kids.
• In Poland and Polish communities, a pre-dinner wafer is shared, with a picture of the nativity on.
• In Sweden, Norway and Finland, St Lucia’s Day is celebrated where the eldest girl in each family will dress in a white gown with a head wreath and holding a candle. St Lucia was said to be one of the first Christian Martyrs.

Christmas in numbers

• 2.1 billion Christmas cards will be sent this season.
• The UK eat over 10 million turkey’s every Christmas!
• 700 million pounds is spent each year on unwanted Christmas gifts.
• Approximately 6 million rolls of cellotape will be sold in the run up to Christmas.
• 6.8 million Samsung and Apple devices will be activated on Christmas Day.
• 4.25 million Brits travel abroad for Christmas.
• According to a 2016 study, around 57% of adults would sacrifice seeing relatives on Christmas Day if it meant they got to spend more time on Facebook!
• 8 million real Christmas Trees are used in the UK every year.
• 2,340,000 mph is how fast Santa’s sleigh has to travel to reach every home in the world on Christmas Eve and he would need to visit 822 houses per second!
• 51 million pounds is the amount saved by using voucher discount codes each year!
• 25 million Christmas Puddings are eaten in the UK each year.
• 57 Olympic-sized pools could be filled with the amount of beer drunk in the UK over Christmas!
• The UK spends 1.6 billion pounds every Christmas!
• 300 million mince pies are eaten each Christmas.
• The average UK adult spends £330 on Christmas gifts.
• 48 million pounds are spent on Christmas Puddings in the UK!