Christmas is celebrated differently around the world, and England has its own set of unique traditions to experience. The Christmas season in England is a time of excitement that starts to build up from November, peaks on Christmas Day and lasts into early January.
Read on to uncover some of the biggest Christmas traditions in England and find out answers to your festive questions.
When is the Christmas season in England?
Once Remembrance Sunday (normally in the second week of November) is commemorated, attention across the UK turns to the next public holiday, Christmas Day. For some, the festive period starts here, six weeks away from the big day itself. But most will wait until December to get into the Christmas spirit.
Christmas Eve is not a public holiday in England but it often signifies the end of work for a large proportion of the public, with many offices allowing a half day. The country virtually shuts down on Christmas Day, as most people spend time at home with family and friends, most shops and restaurants are closed, and public transit operates on a reduced schedule. December 26, known as Boxing Day, is another public holiday.
Christmas Dinner. Image Credit: Getty Images, 10'000 Hours.
What are the Christmas traditions in the UK?
Christmas Dinner
Christmas dinner is hugely popular, and often brings together entire families (and groups of friends). It has the same sort of importance that Thanksgiving dinner has for Americans, with relatives often traveling long distances to celebrate together.
The big meal can take place any time from the evening of Christmas Eve to the evening of Christmas Day itself, though it is common to eat during the afternoon on Christmas Day.
Traditionally, the food consists of a roast turkey, stuffing, gravy, roast or mash potatoes, accompanied by vegetables like brussels sprouts, carrots, and parsnips. Other popular trimmings include pigs in blankets (small sausages wrapped in bacon), bread sauce and some kind of jelly (redcurrant or cranberry). Dessert is normally a Christmas pudding (a pudding made from candied fruits and nuts), mince pies (small sweet pies filled with candied fruits and nuts), trifle, or a chocolate yule log.
Fun fact: Around nine million turkeys used to be consumed at Christmas in the UK, but this figure has roughly halved in the last 25 years as younger adults opt for alternatives like chicken, beef, pork, goose, and duck, as well as vegetarian and vegan options.
Mince Pies. Image Credit: Getty Images, Sam Edwards.
Christmas Jumpers
A Christmas jumper is a sweater with a Christmas or winter-style design often worn during the festive season.
Usually knitted, Christmas jumpers tend to feature embellishments like tinsel, reindeer or sparkles. They became popular in the UK in the 1980s after a number of television presenters wore them.
They actually became a figure of embarrassment in the 1990s and 2000s—partly down to the movie Bridget Jones’ Diary—but have since trended back into popularity as a symbol of festive fun and frivolity.
The charity Save the Children runs an annual Christmas Jumper Day every year in December to raise money for those in need.
Royal Christmas Message
The Queen’s Christmas message was a staple of Christmas life in England for nearly 70 years, but following her passing in 2022, her son King Charles III has taken on the mantle.
Aimed at addressing and inspiring the nation, the speech is usually broadcast at 3pm on Christmas Day on TV, radio and the internet by various providers.
Charles made his first Christmas speech last year where he paid tribute to his mother and thanked those who expressed their “love and sympathy” following her death, noting that "Christmas is a particularly poignant time for all of us who have lost loved ones”.
Image Credit: Getty Images, Betsie Van Der Meer
Boxing Day
Celebrated the day after Christmas on December 26, this holiday originated as a way of giving gifts to less fortunate people but now tends to mean either quality time with loved ones, shopping or sport.
During the Boxing Day sales, many shoppers flock to stores in a bid to secure themselves some post-Christmas bargains, while others will continue their festive fun with friends and family and use the time to finish off leftovers from the previous day's dinner.
The day is also special for soccer action, with plenty of important Premier League games taking place across the country.
Pantomimes
A pantomime—informally referred to as "panto"—is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment that is popular during the Christmas and New Year season.
Modern pantomimes include songs, gags, slapstick comedy and dancing. The stories are based on well-known fairy tales, fables or folktales, often with topical jokes, and feature stock characters, such as the "lovers" and the pantomime "dame"—a drag queen who acts as a kind of master (or, rather, mistress) of ceremonies for the action of the play.
Pantos are a participatory form of theater where the audience is encouraged and expected to sing along to certain parts of the music and shout out phrases to the performers, with the main objective being fun.
Christmas FAQs
How to say "Merry Christmas" in England?
"Merry Christmas" is one of the most common Christmas greetings in England, with "merry" giving off a feeling of being cheerful and lively.
This phrase might have gained popularity due to Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol where it was widely used, although "Happy Christmas" is also commonly used in England.
Some say there are class connotations between the two: "merry" was considered lower class because it also meant "slightly drunk or tipsy", while the "happy" term became popular as it was considered more genteel.
What does England do to celebrate Christmas?
There are many things people do to celebrate Christmas in England such as carol singing, midnight church services, and pub crawls.
Families often spend Christmas together. Presents from loved ones are left under the Christmas tree to open on Christmas Day and the decorating of the tree is often a family occasion.
On Christmas Day itself people do lots of different things with many having a big Christmas dinner together, watching festive films, attending church, heading out on walks, and listening to the Queen’s (now King’s) speech.
Pulling a Christmas cracker. Image Credit: Getty Images, Betsie van der Meer
What are Christmas crackers?
Christmas crackers are a favorite Christmas dinner tradition in the UK. Far from the edible crackers you might be used to, the "crackers" in question are tubes of cardboard, often decorated with Christmas patterns or symbols, split into three sections: two hand holds and a middle section containing Christmas goodies.
Two people pull on opposite ends of the cracker and it is designed to break with an audible "crack"—thanks to a very small amount of gunpowder inside—with the winner getting the middle section. The middle of a Christmas cracker has a colorful paper crown that you can wear for the rest of the dinner, a piece of paper with a notorious Christmas cracker joke (think of the worst dad jokes imaginable) and a small gift.
Around the world
Thinking of a trip to England during the holiday season? Also check out our guides to New Year's Eve fireworks in London, Bonfire Night (November 5), and what to do in London during the Christmas season.
Header Image Credit: Getty Images, 10'000 Hours