Xmas Around The World - Falkland Islands - The British Hamper Company

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Christmas Around The World - Falkland Islands

21 Oct 2020

In our previous stop off around the world, we visited Africa to see how Christmas was celebrated in Ethiopia.

Today our journey takes us to the Falkland Islands.

Located approximately 400 miles off the south east coast of Argentina, the Falkland Islands consist of around 740 islands and adding up their land mass together (about 4700 square miles), they would be around half the size of Wales in the United Kingdom.

There are around 3000-3500 people living on the Falkland Islands with the vast majority (around 2500-2600) living in the capital, Stanley.

When

25th December

Religious Influence

Anglican

Merry Christmas decoration on a Christmas tree

Photo by Brett Sayles from Pexels

Decorations

Many islanders will have a decorated Christmas tree, which will usually be an artificial one.

Customs

There is a pantomime every year which is put on by the local amateur dramatics society.

On the final performance, the Governor traditionally attends and is lightly made fun of (in good spirit).

Children who live in 'the camp' (the remote areas of the island), get a small parcel of presents flown to them from the capital Stanley.

Santa's elves are the ones who fly to the remote farms to deliver the presents.

Many people in Stanley will gather under the 'Whale Bone Arch' next to the Christ Church Cathedral on Christmas Eve to sing Christmas carols.

Horse racing scene

Photo by Absolute Charm from Pexels

On Christmas morning, there is a church service that many people will attend, whilst on Boxing Day, there are horse races which are very popular and competitive. The most important race is called 'The Governor's Cup'.

There is also a one mile running race which many people of  all different ages take part in, including some of the soldiers based on the islands.

Food

The main Christmas dish is lamb since there are a lot of sheep in the island, which makes is much cheaper than importing other types of meat across to the island.

Next up we travel all the way back to Europe to look at how Finland celebrates Christmas.