A Jamaican Christmas

 Jamaican Christmas Traditions
 
What is Christmas like in Jamaica?  It depends on who you ask.

Like many countries Christmas is associated with gifts, family and fun, whether at the beach, Christmas market or at home.  
It is the time of year when homes are transformed with Christmas decorations whether store bought or homemade. Space is made for relatives living abroad to return to celebrate the season Jamaican style and escape winter, if only for a few days.

As a predominantly Christian country Christmas also has important religious significance.  So, for many the day starts with attending pre-dawn morning service.

Breakfast must include ackee and salted cod with ham, roasted breadfruit and Johnnie cakes.  Early morning eggnog is also a favourite for many.   

Lunch and dinner are usually merged into one with gungo peas and rice, ham, as well as other meats such as turkey, roasted beef, and chicken, with lots of gravy.  There is also a small salad on the side to add colour, along with ice cold glasses of sorrel drink with ginger and rum.

Then there is Christmas pudding or cake for desert, packed with raisons and other fruits and soaked in rum. Christmas is never complete without pudding.

Contemporary Christmas music is pulsating with the reggae beat and humour, full of references that are typically Jamaican

Here is more Jamaican Christmas customs:  JIS - Jamaican Christmas 

Merry Christmas!

 
Also visit our gallery for contemporary Jamaican/Caribbean fine art: EJ Gallery

Photo by Laura Gomez of Unsplash

Revised December 2020

December 2016