These days, it is increasingly easy to find symbols of Western Christmas in any African city. Santa hats, plastic Christmas trees and sparkly snow are available in malls from Harare to Dakar. However, there is a plethora of lesser-known Christmas traditions thriving on our continent. Maybe slaughtering a goat isn’t your style, but spicy chicken stew, new ball games, and boat-shaped lanterns are easy and novel ways to bring some true African style to your holiday celebrations.
Ethiopia
Ethiopia hasn’t converted to the Gregorian calendar, so Christmas (or “Genna”) is celebrated on 7th January. Ethiopians fast for the day before Genna, and then go to church early in the morning dressed in white. Gift-giving isn’t a major tradition: if anything, children will be given new clothes. That doesn’t mean that there’s no fun though! The traditional Genna game is similar to hockey, where hooked sticks are used, and is played in the late afternoon.
Zambia
Almost 90% of Zambians are Christian, so Christmas is a large celebration that begins early in the morning, when people visit each other to exchange greetings. It is customary to give visitors a small gift, like sweets or a bread roll. After a morning church service, people gather in a communal space for food and home-made beer, and an animal is slaughtered. Later, as the excitement builds, everyone takes part in traditional dances like chitelele (for girls) and muganda (for boys).
The Gambia
The Gambia’s Christians make up only 9% of the population, so Christmas is more of a cultural than religious celebration. However, most Gambians will partake in the festivities of Fanal over the Christmas period, where boats, or fanals, are created out of bamboo and paper. These are then decorated with lights or candles, and carried in processions around the town accompanied by singing and chanting.
Egypt
Egypt’s Coptic Christianity can be traced back to AD 50, making them one of the oldest Christian communities in the world. There is a long history of conflict between Muslims and Christians in Egypt, but it seems that religious tolerance is increasing since the 2011 revolution (remember the famous photos of Christians and Muslims protecting each other while praying in Tahrir Square?) Last Christmas, many notable Muslim politicians attended the traditional midnight Mass at St Mark’s cathedral in Cairo. When the service is over, the fast is broken with qurban, a special bread adorned with a cross surrounded by twelve dots.
Cover photo by Kingsley Holgate
