@Harlem
Yes, Lucia is a well-known Christmas tradition in Sweden. I’m not sure how it started. In our case, it doesn’t involve gifts, just children and teenagers dressing up and singing certain songs (most elementary schools participate, with obligatory fika).
Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vl6o4mG25Ec&ab_channel=shamcra
@Daire
Thanks for the link
@Harlem
Which part of Lombardy are you from? I assume it’s in the eastern part because I’ve only heard of S. Lucia being a Veneto thing. I’m also from Lombardy, and we don’t celebrate it here.
Lyle said:
@Harlem
Which part of Lombardy are you from? I assume it’s in the eastern part because I’ve only heard of S. Lucia being a Veneto thing. I’m also from Lombardy, and we don’t celebrate it here.
Yes, eastern Lombardy. I didn’t know this tradition was also in Veneto.
Lyle said:
@Harlem
Which part of Lombardy are you from? I assume it’s in the eastern part because I’ve only heard of S. Lucia being a Veneto thing. I’m also from Lombardy, and we don’t celebrate it here.
In Brescia and Bergamo, it’s a huge tradition. For kids, it’s arguably even more significant than Christmas.
In Finland, December 6th is Independence Day, a day mostly for appreciating the country and veterans.
In general, every official name has a name day (nimipäivä). Some celebrate it mildly, but most probably don’t at all.
During Easter, children dress up as witches and go door to door, reciting rhymes and bringing decorated willow branches to drive away evil spirits. They expect treats (candy) in return.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_witch
St. Nicholas Day is on December 6th.
Also, we have name days, but they’re getting less popular.
Name days are still around, but not as popular. Finns celebrate Friendship Day instead of Valentine’s Day. People sometimes exchange gifts then among friends of all ages.
We have the thing on Easter (Palm Sunday), where you give flowers to your godparents and they give you a gift (technically, it’s a kind of bread called folar, but now it can just be regular gifts or money).
Palm Sunday
Can you tell me what it’s called in Portuguese?
Where I’m from, we say ‘domingo de ramos’ (Bouquet Sunday - I have no idea what the correct English translation is).
I’ve never heard of ‘Palm Sunday’.
In Portugal, we also have ‘dia dos reis’ on January 6th and a couple of others, but I don’t think kids get gifts on those.
Edit: There used to be ‘pão por Deus’ which was the Christian version of asking for food during Halloween. It was introduced to replace pagan rituals, but I think nowadays, most people haven’t even heard of it.
@Nevin
Also, it seems these days most families go with ‘Pai Natal’ (Father Christmas) 
but just a couple of decades ago, kids received gifts from ‘baby Jesus’.