The Neatest Colombian Christmas Traditions

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Ah, Christmas in Colombia!

Christmas is a time full of special traditions and fun in many places in the world, and Colombian Christmas traditions are no exception!

While there’s not really anywhere in Colombia where you’ll find snowmen or winter wonderlands, Colombia’s Christmas traditions are still a lot of fun and incorporate elements from other places along with some unique touches.

After living in Colombia for over a decade, I got to experience many of the neatest Christmas traditions in Colombia, some of which I’m happy to say are now permanelty part of our own traditions.

So, if you’re wondering how does Colombia celebrate Christmas or how is Christmas celebrated in Colombia, read on to learn about some of the most fascinating Colombian Christmas traditions!

My Experience of Colombian Christmas Traditions

I lived in the Caribbean heat of Cartagena for over a decade, and well, the weather never felt much like Christmas.

Not at all!

Still, in all my time living in Colombia and Cartagena, people were always excited for Christmas.

Decorations and lights went up.

People got together for neighborhood get togethers, work Christmas parties (with maybe even a bonus thrown in) were held, and everybody was pretty merry as they awaited the most wonderful time of the year.

The same handful of songs were blasted over and over on repeat on the radio in taxis and speakers around the barrios.

So, even with Cartagena’s year round beach weather (don’t worry, no one is crazy enough for ugly Christmas sweater parties in Cartagena, maybe in Bogotá), it still always seemed to still feel like Christmas as the end of the year approached, Christmas in Colombia is definitely a big deal!

By the way, if that December beach weather sounds enticing, be sure to read my tips for spending Christmas in Cartagena. I know I miss going to the beach at Christmas time since we’ve moved back to the relatively moderate winters of South Carolina.

Beyond the favorite songs, there are some really interesting Christmas traditions in Colombia too.

Like in most countries, there are some tasty Colombian Christmas foods and some unique Colombian Christmas desserts. There are also a few pretty quirky Christmas traditions in Colombia, like the Dia de los Inocentes Colombian tradition of pranks.

I always found some of the differences between how Christmas is celebrated in Colombia and the US or other countries pretty interesting, although there are plenty of similarities too.

Being married to a Colombian and now with a child of our own, there are a handful of Colombian Christmas traditions that are now firmly my family’s own now too.

Traveling During Christmas Time in Colombia?

Below, I’ll be sharing what I consider to be the most interesting Colombian Christmas traditions.

Before I get to that, I just want to share one quick piece of advice if you happen to be planning on traveling to spend Christmas in Colombia.

Christmas time in Colombia, like much of the rest of the world, is one of the busiest tourist seasons.

Cartagena, the biggest destination for domestic and international travel, especially gets crowded.

So, it’s good to make your reservations early!

To help with that, you can check out my guide to the best areas to stay in Cartagena or my picks for the best boutique hotels, best luxury hotels, best beachfront hotels, or best hostels and knock those reservations out early.

Same for booking things like private boat rentals in Cartagena, Rosario Islands day trips, or any other of the best tours in Cartagena.

If you’re traveling elsewhere in Colombia, you might also want to check out my guide to the best areas to stay in Bogotá, and all the other destinations I cover in the Other Destinations section of the site.

11 Most Fascinating Christmas in Colombia Traditions

Ok, let’s talk about what I think are the most interesting Colombian Christmas traditions.

Of course, every family is different and may or may not adhere to all of them.

Also, some of Colombia’s Christmas traditions are bigger deals in some cities than others.

I did include one Colombian Christmas tradition that only applies to Medellín, since it’s one of the country’s biggest events associated with this time of year (although its origin actually has nothing to do with Christmas), so I felt it deserved to be here.

However, the rest of these Christmas traditions from Colombia are celebrated all around the country.

Día de las Velitas

One of my personal favorite Christmas traditions in Colombia is the lighting of candles on the night of December 7, known as the Día de Velitas, or literally, the Day of Little Candles.

This celebration is related to the Catholic celebration of the Immaculate Conception of Mary on December 8. You can learn more about its history in this post on the history of Little Candles Day in Colombia.

People light candles and lanterns on their balconies, in their windowsills, and on the sidewalks.

In Cartagena, it’s most common for people to light the candles at midnight and make wishes.

However, the most popular time to light them varies from city to city.

This Colombian Christmas tradition is considered the official kickoff of the Colombia Christmas season in most of the country.

Susana loves this tradition, and she always makes sure to light her candles, even now that we live in the US.

We recently did it with our daughter for the first time!

It’s also an easy tradition to participate in yourself!

In the days leading up to December 7, there are usually lots of street vendors selling cheap, colorful candles all around town, and supermarkets and tiendas will also have them.

So, if you happen to be in Colombia for December 7, be sure to grab some and light them that evening!

Christmas in Medellín Starts with the Alborada

Medellín kicks off its Christmas season a bit earlier.

The Alborada, a week before Día de las Velitas, is usually considered the start of the Christmas season in Medellín.

According to this great article from Medellínliving.com, this unique Colombian Christmas tradition dates to the demobilization of a paramilitary group that operated in Medellín in 2003.

To celebrate their demobilization, they gave out fireworks to residents of the barrios they controlled to be fired off on November 30, a few days after their official demobilization.

Over time, it became an annual tradition, was adopted by more and more barrios, and has basically become a city wide event that is not really connected to the paramilitaries at all but just seen as the start of the Christmas season.

Although we’ve never been in Medellín for the Alborada, my understanding is it’s quite the event and sight, especially if you get a good vantage point in one of the areas a bit higher up in the hills and mountains on the outskirts of the city.

From 11 pm to around 2 or 3 am, you should see lots of fireworks all over the city.

So, expect to hear fireworks all night if you are in Medellín this time of year.

Celebrating las Novenas

Las Novenas, or Novenas de Aguinaldo, is a Christmas tradition in Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador.

It is similar to a tradition known as Las Posadas in Mexico.

It dates to the 1700s when a Catholic friar began saying a series of prayers for the 9 days leading up to Christmas Eve from December 16 to December 24, hence the name novenas.

For each day, there is an accompanying reading that tells the Biblical history of the period leading up to Jesus’s birth.

Many of the prayers also include parts where everyone sings or chants, which makes it a fun group activity.

Therefore, it’s common for Colombians to do the novenas with extended family, church groups, or friends. Often a different person hosts each day with a small get together with food, snacks, (like those special Colombian Christmas foods mentioned below) or even drinks.

I remember a few years where Susana and her friends organized a group celebration of this Colombian Christmas tradition and they would take turns hosting. They would serve snacks, read the prayers, sing the songs, and have a glass of wine or two.

We recently did a sancocho with some Colombian friends here in the US so they could all celebrate at least one part of this favorite Colombian Christmas tradition.

My experience seeing them and others celebrate this tradition is that for the very religious, this is a really big deal.

However, for the more nominal religious, which is still most Colombians, it is as much about socializing and keeping a cherished childhood memory and beloved Colombian Christmas tradition alive as it is the religious aspect.

So, even if you’re not a devoted Catholic, if you get the opportunity to participate in or invited to a novenas, it can be fun time of fellowship.

Colombia’s Christmas Lights and Decorations

Of course, this isn’t so much a Colombian Christmas tradition, but a Christmas tradition, period.

I would say based on my experience, individual people don’t get quite as hardcore as some people in the US or elsewhere about putting up tons of lights for Christmas in Colombia on their own homes.

However, most cities in Colombia will have lots of pretty public Christmas lights and decorations.

Even small towns often put up elaborate light displays, nativity scenes, and other decorations in their main plazas.

When I was living in Cartagena, the lights were usually lit around the first weekend of December, sometimes in conjunction with the Noche de Velitas on December 7th, or sometimes a few days before.

They usually stayed lit at least through Three Kings Day on January 6.

Time frame is pretty common throughout Colombia.

So, even if you’re not going to be in Colombia for Christmas day itself, if you’re traveling to Colombia in December, there’s a good chance you’ll get to see some Christmas decorations.

There is usually a good mix of more traditionally, wintery, I’m assuming US inspired, decorations like Christmas trees, snowflakes, and ornaments, but also some neat and more unique displays.

In Cartagena, I’ve seen elaborate sailing ships, neat tunnels of light, and, one year, a slightly odd Avianca airplane display.

We always really enjoyed spending time walking around town and seeing all the lights at Christmas time, even when we ended up traveling elsewhere for the holidays.

Also, I always loved when they hung lights along Cartagena’s historic walls, and the clocktower lit up is always really pretty too.

You’d be surprised how neat palm trees look with Christmas lights!

Medellín is especially well known for elaborate light displays along the river.

We were there around Christmas time one year were definitely impressed. There were lots of street food and drink vendors set up and it was a neat atmosphere.

They are definitely well worth seeing if you will be passing through Medellín in December!

Monserrate also has very neat light displays if you are in Bogotá for Christmas time.

We were there once around Christmas time but only went up during the day. I imagine it’s really neat seeing them lit up at night though.

Honestly, though, everywhere we’ve traveled around the holidays, including small towns like Villa de Leyva and San Agustín have had neat Christmas lights.

So, anywhere you go in Colombia is likely to at least have the lights to put you in the Christmas spirit.

Christmas Food in Colombia Part 1: Colombian Christmas Eve Meal

Just like in most of the world, getting together with family and/or friends and enjoying lots of good food is one of the most important (and one of just about everyone’s favorite) of Colombia’s Christmas traditions.

However, unlike my home country of the US where Christmas Day itself is usually the most important family celebration and feast day, the night of December 24 is the main celebration of Christmas in Colombia and when most people will have big family get togethers and share a meal.

It’s common to have a meal, and many people also go out and party (or just party with family at their house!).

If you happen to be traveling in Colombia during Christmas time, many restaurants do a special meal for Christmas Eve. You often have to buy tickets or make reservations ahead of time to get a spot at popular places, so you might want to check on that ahead of time.

If you happen to be in Cartagena, you might want to check what places on my list of best restaurants to try in Cartagena offer the traditional Colombian Christmas Eve Dinner.

Pernil de Cerdo, technically meant to be pork leg but often made with pork shoulder, is the most common meat served for Christmas dinner in Colombia. You may also see pork loin, beef roasts, or occasionally, turkey.

Usually, the meat for Christmas dinner in Colombia is served with a sauce and rice with raisins. In Cartagena, it is often coconut rice, a local favorite and one of the best traditional foods to try in Cartagena.

I have also seen rice with spinach and just regular white rice offered at Christmas dinners too.

While usually not eaten for Christmas Eve, two other traditional Colombian Christmas foods are tamals and pastels.

I would say they are not quite as a big a deal or Christmas traditional food in Colombia as the very similar hallaca is in Venezuela, but it’s still common to see this classic comfort food prepared more often around the holidays.

Each region has its own slightly different variation of this mix of meat, vegetables, and a starch steamed in plantain leaves.

In much of the country, they eat tamals, where the starch is corn meal.

Meanwhile, in Cartagena, the pastel, where the starch is rice, is more common. There is even an annual Festival del Pastel in Cartagena around the holidays, a testament to just how much this food is associated with Christmas in Colombia.

I always saw lots of tiendas and street vendors, and even some restaurants selling both pastels and tamals this time of year too.

Colombian Christmas Food Part 2: Buñuelos and Natilla

Besides that common Christmas dinner and hearty meals like tamals and pastels, the two other most iconic Christmas in Colombia foods are buñuelos and natilla.

Buñuelos are small fried corn meal and cheese fritters in the shape of balls.

These are slightly different from buñuelos you might find in Mexico or other Spanish speaking countries which are a bit more like donuts.

In Colombia, they do sort of look like giant donut holes, but they are more savory and salty with just a hint of sweetness.

They are a popular breakfast on the go or morning snack throughout the year, but they are often enjoyed as an evening snack or even dessert at family and friend get togethers at Christmas time around Colombia.

They are notoriously difficult to fry correctly and get them to hold their form. That’s because you have to get the temperature of the oil just right so that they don’t fall apart but also don’t burn.

The best ones are golden brown with a thin layer of almost crunchy crust on the outside while being soft and fluffy on the inside.

Natilla is also very common as a sweet snack or Christmas dessert in Colombia.

This Colombian Christmas dessert is a custard thickened with cornstarch.

In my experience, the consistency can vary from being quite runny, almost like pudding, to thicker and light like a gelatin, to even being more firm and sliceable, almost like a flan or even fudge.

In fact, natilla reminds me a lot of sort of a lighter, less mushy and grainy flan (natilla in some other countries is made with egg but not in Colombia, by the way).

It sometimes has coconut, raisins, nuts, or some other fruit or flavoring, and it pretty much always has cinnamon and is sweetened with the unrefined brown sugar cane known as panela.

It’s a favorite treat, and will usually be dessert at Christmas dinners at restaurants or at family gatherings for Christmas in Colombia.

Who Brings Gifts to the Good Children in Colombia on Christmas?

You might be asking yourself, do they believe in Santa Claus in Colombia or who brings gifts to the good children in Colombia on Christmas.

Santa Claus has become more common in Colombia due to the influence of the US on global pop culture with Colombia being no exception.

So, some, maybe even a lot, of Colombian children do believe in Santa Claus nowadays.

However, traditionally Christmas gifts to children in Colombia come from the Niño Jesus, or Baby Jesus, sometimes also called Niño Dios.

A lot of Colombian families keep this unique Colombian tradition for Christmas alive rather than saying gifts come from Santa Claus, and children will write letters to Niño Jesus for the gifts they want to get similar to how we would write them to Santa when we were kids.

Basically, Niño Jesus is the Colombian Santa Claus.

It will be interesting to see if Santa continues to become more popular over time though or if most Colombian children (or maybe more importantly, their parents) keep this traditional Colombian Christmas tradition of presents from Niño Jesus alive.

When and Where Do Children Find Their Christmas Gifts in Colombia?

If you’re wondering where do children find their Christmas gifts in Colombia, the answer is usually under the tree, similar to where we always had our presents in the US.

However, the answer to when children receive their Christmas gifts in Colombia might surprise you.

Christmas gifts are usually given to children in Colombia the night of December 24 rather than the morning of the 25th.

They usually get to open their presents just after midnight, although that might depend on the age of the kids and their (or their parents’) preferred bedtime.

So, Colombian kids get to open presents on Christmas Eve and don’t have to anxiously await parents waking up on to get their presnts on Christmas morning!

More Gifts on Three Kings Day

Usually seen as the end of the Christmas season in Colombia and much of the rest of the world, Three Kings Day, known as Día de los 3 Reyes or Día de los Reyes Magos in Spanish, is on January 6.

While not every family follows this Colombian Christmas tradition today, it is still pretty common for children to receive additional gifts on Three Kings Day.

Not a bad deal for the little ones at all if you ask me!

The first Monday after January 6 is also always a holiday in Colombia in honor of this traditional Catholic holiday (so, not a bad deal for the adults either!).

With this day being seen as the end of the Christmas season, decorations will usually start to come down after January 6 too, although many cities and towns will leave them up through the Monday holiday.

Día de los Inocentes: Colombian Tradition of Pranks

The Día de los Inocentes Christmas tradition of pranks is, in my opinion, the funniest and quirkiest of all the Colombian Christmas traditions.

During this Colombian Christmas tradition, people play pranks and practical jokes on their friends and family.

It is basically April Fools Day in December!

This history behind this tradition is actually quite dark.

It comes from a Biblical legend in the Gospel of Matthew known as the Massacre of the Innocents, and alleges the Roman appointed King Herod of Judea ordered male children in Bethlehem to be executed after he heard of the birth of Jesus as King of the Jews.

As early as the 5th century it became a Christian feast day, known in English as the Feast of the Holy Innocents or Childermas, and the church considers the children to be the first Christian martyrs.

It’s not entirely clear where the tradition of carrying out pranks, or bromas in Spanish, came from, but it remains common in Spain and Latin America, although not everyone in Colombia takes part.

For example, I don’t remember anyone I was close with in Cartagena being really into this tradition, and I was fortunate enough to never had any big pranks played on me.

In the city of Pasto in Western Colombia, it is considered the official kickoff of the Carnival de Blancos y Negros (which we had a really fun time at when we went and you can learn more about by clicking that link, by the way).

Traditionally, it was common for people to throw water on each other, but in recent years that has been discouraged to save water.

So, it seems like it’s a bigger deal in some places like Pasto than others. I’d imagine it might be a bigger thing in small towns, or even just that some families keep this Colombian Christmas tradition alive more than others.

Still, it’s not a bad idea to be on the lookout for this Colombian Christmas tradition of pranks and practical jokes!

Aguinaldos Christmas Bonus

Aguinaldos are a sort of extra monetary gift, tip, or bonus given to workers in Colombia.

Interestingly, the bonus is a legal requirement in Mexico, where businesses have to pay their employees Aguinaldos.

In Colombia, there is a thing called a prima that is a mandatory extra monthly paycheck split into two payments annually at the middle and end of the year that functions similarly Aguinaldo in Mexico.

Some businesses may formally give another bonus and call it an Aguinaldo or Christmas bonus. However, in my experience the Aguinaldo in Colombia more commonly sort of an optional thing given to service workers.

For example, in one apartment building I lived in, there was always a box where residents could donate what they wanted towards the Aguinaldos. The donations were then split up evenly between the front desk and maintenance staff.

One of the private schools I worked at as a teacher always had each class give the maintenance, cleaning, and kitchen staff big anchetas, or gift baskets.

Well, really, it was mostly basic food stuffs in a giant trash can. I always found that a bit odd and sort of patronizing, but it’s quite common.

So, this Colombian Christmas time tradition is probably more important for expat residents than tourists in Colombia, but you might see a collection box at hotels, restaurants, or front desks in the building if you’re staying at a rental apartment.

While you should not feel obligated to give, if you are so inclined, I’m sure the workers would appreciate it.

By the way if you do live in Colombia and employ a maid or cook regularly, it is generally expected, and in many cases legally required, that you do give them a prima, both in December and mid-year.

And, well, if you live in an apartment building, the porteros will most assrredly make sure you know where the Aguinaldos box is and give you a few reminders in the weeks leading up to Christmas!

Don’t Forget to Be Merry!

If there’s one thing I’ve learned after a decade living in Colombia, it is that Colombians love to have a good time!

And the merriest time of year, Christmas time, is no exception.

Like I mentioned above, the Alborada, the Noche de Velitas, and Christmas Eve are all big days for both family celebrations and going out on the town.

Expect there to be lively atmospheres those nights and people to be celebrating into the wee hours of the morning, usually with a hearty dose of aguardiente.

So even if you don’t take part in any of these Colombian Christmas traditions directly, be sure to enjoy yourself if you spend Christmas in Colombia!

If you’ll be in Colombia for Christmas or around the holiday season, be sure to check out this post on the most interesting New Years traditions in Colombia too!

Oh and do have a great time!

Cheers and Merry Exploring!

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If you like fun traditions, you might also love seeing some of Colombia’s small towns, many of rich have a rich and fascinating cultural heritage. Some of my favorites are the charming Villa de Leyva, which we visited one Christmas and saw the neat decorations they put up, Barichara, often cited as Colombia’s prettiest small town, and Mompox, a colonial gem that isn’t visited all that often. Please, do also check out all the other content on the site about Cartagena as well as the Other Destinations section for more places to visit in Colombia!