Caribbean Christmas Traditions

A Caribbean Christmas is truly a unique experience. It is in fact, the biggest celebration in the islands, outside of Carnival. We have never and will never possibly have a "White Christmas" as in other cultures - we have bright skies, a warm climate and celebrate a much longer season than most.

There are some annual traditions that set us apart from other cultures and that make us, as Caribbean immigrants reminisce and feel a special connection to home.

As a Trinidadian, I'll speak about my experience specifically, but I'm certain there is overlap on other islands.

1) "Going home" for Christmas is a thing, just like it is in other cultures. For us, while we long to see our family members, many of us also long for the warm climate, local food and drink, music and cultural traditions we know and love.

2) Christmas is a full season in our culture. It begins as early as September, which is typically extremely early for many other cultures.

3) Christmas cleaning is a big part of the culture and consists of painting the house, changing curtains/drapes and a deep clean of the home. Curtains are purchased or sewn specifically for the season, hung up and then taken down after.

4) When visiting family and friends at any point during the season, there is the expectation of traditional Christmas dishes like ham, homemade bread, pastelles, black cake and drinks like sorrel, ponche a creme and ginger beer to be served. Serving any kind of snack food to your guests is absolutely unacceptable.

5) It would not be a Caribbean Christmas if we didn't mention the parties you can expect, not just in Trinidad and Tobago but in many of the other islands. If there is one thing we love to do is mix, mingle, eat, drink and have a good time. There are always a number of events happening for the Christmas season, big and small. In Trinidad, many of these events could include live bands performing traditional Christmas music with local instruments.

6) Lights! Lights! Lights! One of the most exciting experiences for me is landing in the airport at night during the Christmas season. Homes and business are adorned with festive lights and a view from the top is always beautiful to see.

7) The Christmas season isn't complete without going to church, a very longstanding tradition for most. Whether you attend service on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day is usually a decision that has been in the family for many years.

8) The biggest element of a Trinidadian Christmas is hands down, the music. I try to break it down further below.

• While you'll sometimes hear the typical Christmas carols and songs, they are not played often. There are a few very popular ones that stay on repeat annually which is very fascinating to me. 1) Anything from the Mariah Carey Album 2) Luther Vandross "Every Year, Every Christmas" 3) Wham's "Last Christmas", 4) Eartha Kitt's "Santa Baby" 5) Stevie Wonder's "Someday At Christmas" are a few I can remember off the top of my head.

• Along with the "American" classics I mentioned above, there are some local favorites that bring back memories as well - "Around The Christmas Tree" by Lennox Gray, "Ribbons" by Marilyn Williams and Baron's Christmas Medley is my absolute favorite local album to listen to for Christmas (what a voice!)

• We have our own traditional music called parang which is still played on the radio and performed live during the season. Songs by Daisy Voisin and Lara Brothers have paved the way for other classics from Marcia Miranda, Sharlene Flores and Scrunter. We now have younger artists releasing new parang inspired songs annually for a nice change. In any gathering, we can sing many of these at the top of our lungs - especially the older ones.

• Paranging is still a thing! While we hear it on the radio and sometimes performed live at an event or on a street corner - there is a famous tradition that involves going from house to house singing our traditional parang music. Times have changed, so this looks a bit different now in terms of safety measures but the tradition lives on for many.

• We are uniquely a people, who proudly sing about our Christmas culture, food and drink included. In fact, most of the parang songs we listen to now, include all of our favorite dishes and traditions. It wasn't until I tried to research music in other cultures (Caribbean ones at that) that I realized Trinidadians sing ALOT about the food they eat at Christmas time and their culture in general.

• Soca parang is indeed the genre of the double entendre. Many local Christmas songs have been creatively composed and written to have a double meaning when it comes to food and body parts.