Having previous look at how Christmas is celebrated in Germany - we find ourselves leaving Europe and heading 4903km south to western Africa to see how Ghana celebrates Christmas.
Being close to the equator, Ghana really only enjoys two seasons per year, a wet one and a dry one!
The country is made up (fairly evenly) between beautiful, lush rainforest, dry & sandy deserts, and savannah full of shrubs.
It has a very diverse population with many indigenous languages, with the most widely spoken being the Twi language spoken by the Ashanti people, and the Dagbani language spoken by the Dagomba people.
So how do Ghanaians celebrate Christmas?
When
20th December - 07th January
Religious Influence
Around 71% of Ghana is Christian, split between Pentecostal/Charismatic (28%), Protestant (18%) and Catholic (13%).
Photo by Brett Sayles from Pexels
Decorations
Paper ornaments are made by children at school.
Christmas trees aren't common in homes but they might be seen in hotels, shopping malls and in town centres.
Customs
There are 66 different language groups in Ghana who all have their own customs so traditions may not apply to every single person in the country.
On Christmas Eve there are church services that often have drumming and dancing, as well as outdoor parades.
Children will tend to put on a Nativity Play (or another performance) and afterwards choirs come to sing and people begin dancing which can go on all night.
Carols are sung in whichever language the church focuses on, so these may vary.
Fireworks and parties are also popular to celebrate Christmas Eve.
There are church services on Christmas morning that most people will attend wearing their colourful traditional clothes. After the service, people will return home with their family to exchange gifts.
Over the Christmas period, many parties (work and school) are held at hotels, beaches, parks and community centres where people send good wishes to everyone on Earth.
Young children often receive things like chocolate, cookies or new clothes from 'Papa Bronya' (Father Christmas), who wears sandals, a red robe with a gold trim, and a traditional African patterned sash.
Food
Food at Christmas time traditionally includes stew or 'okra' soup, porridge, meats including chicken, goat and lamb, rice and 'fufu' (which is made from cassava and green plantain flour).
Throughout the celebrations it is common to eat four to five meals a day with extra snacks in between.
We next head to Greece to see how the Greeks celebrate Christmas.