By: Brennan McMahon

Hanukkah: Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday that is usually celebrated in December. Hanukkah is the celebration of the redecoration of the second temple of Jerusalem by lighting candles on every day of the festival. Jewish people light one candle for each of the 8 days of Hanukkah. For more information about Hanukkah, please visit: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hanukkah

Christmas: Christmas is a Christian holiday that happens on December 25 every year. This holiday is in celebration of Jesus being born. Christians celebrate Christmas by setting up trees, giving presents, and going to church. Christmas music is super popular. In December you can go onto any radio station and find some sort of Christmas music. For more information about Christmas, please visit: https://www.rd.com/article/christmas-on-the-25th/

New Years: This is the celebration of the next year starting and the previous one ending. There is a huge party in New York City. A lot of people stay up until midnight to celebrate with family and friends. People write New Year’s resolutions which are things you want to do better the next year. For more information about New Years, please visit: https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/new-years

Kwanzaa: Kwanzaa is an African American holiday founded by Dr. Maulana Karenga, that is a nonreligious holiday that focuses on history, family and culture. Each day people light a candle to symbolize the meaning of the day. For more information about Kwanzaa, please visit: https://www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org/

St. Nicholas Day: St. Nicholas Day is a day to celebrate St. Nicholas who was a bishop in present day Greece. He loved to help the poor by giving them money. He is the inspiration for what we now call Santa. People celebrate St. Nick’s Day by leaving their shoes out and then the next day wake up to find them filled with little presents. St. Nick’s Day is celebrated on the 6 of December. Another way to celebrate St Nick’s Day is little acts of kindness because he was always kind to everyone he met. For more information about St. Nicholas Day, please visit: https://www.dynamiccatholic.com/advent/about-st-nicholas.html

Las Posadas: This is a Christmas festival celebrated in Mexico and other Hispanic communities. It starts on December 16 and lasts 9 nights. The children celebrate by having piñatas filled with candy. The children go to every inn in town looking for a place to stay and when they find one with room for them they break the piñata and celebrate. For more information about Los Posadas, please visit: https://mexicratecandy.com/blogs/blog/las-posadas-and-other-mexican-holiday-traditions-you-should-know