The song Feliz Navidad is almost synonymous with the Christmas season. Sung and recorded by Puerto Rican singer Jose Feliciano, the song was featured in the album of the same name, released in 1970.
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The classic starts as “Feliz Navidad, próspero año y felicidad”, which actually is a collective Christmas and New Year, literally translating to “Merry Christmas, a prosperous year and happiness.”
Here are Christmas Wishes in ten different languages-
- Joyeux Noël! (French)- A film shares its title with this french wish. Though it does not adhere to the jolly themes of the holiday season, rather centered around war, this film can be a good watch for this season for a change.
- Frohe Weihnachten! (German)- Markets are incredibly vibrant in Germany during this season, and the food is equally delicious.
- Buon Natale! (Italian)- The home to unarguably the most popular food in the world, Pizza, also has several highly religious traditions rooted in its culture. Presepi (the nativity scene) can be spotted almost everywhere.
- Feliz Natal! (Portuguese)- Portugal Santa Claus is referred to as Pai Natal (“Father Christmas”, whereas in Brazil he is called Papai Noel or Bom Velhinho (Good Old Man). Brazil holds a different tradition when it comes to gifts, kids put their socks out in hopes of Santa Clause exchanging it with the presents.
- Crăciun Fericit! (Romania)- Sibiu has the best-decorated marketplace in the world, says the 2022 list published by the global travel site Big 7 Travel. It is breathtakingly beautiful and so worth a visit.
- Счастливого Рождества! (Schastlivogo Rozhdestva!) (Russian)- Though the rest of the world celebrates Christmas on 25th December, Russia marks this holiday on 7th of January, as the orthodox church in Russia follows the Julian Calender. 25th of December on the Gregorian calendar corresponds to 7th of January in Julian.
- God Jul! (Swedish)- The Christmas feast is filled with a variety of options, and not just Swedish fika, which many nonlocals assume. The feast is called julbord, and has lots of different delicacies like julskinka (a type of Christmas ham), salads, cheeses, meatballs, prinskorv (Swedish sausages) and more.
- Glædelig Jul! (Danish)- Denmark holds up the legend of Julemanden (Christmas man or Yule man) who only gives presents to the children who have been good the entire year. Julemanden is very similar to Santa, both reside in Greenland and have sleigh and reindeers to travel around the world, handing out presents.
- Hyvää Joulua! (Finnish)- In Finland, Santa is also referred to as Joulupukki (Christmas goat). There was a scary yule goat in the lore, who would ask everyone for gifts. It slowly became good and Santa took over the job, but the name still remains.
- Wesołych Świąt! (Polish)- Christmas Eve is considered the day of Fasting in Poland, and believers abstain from meat consumption.
