Christmas in Australia: Summer, Seafood & Sun

Christmas in Australia falls on 25 December, exactly as it does here, but it lands in the middle of the Southern Hemisphere summer, so instead of frost and fairy lights against a dark afternoon you get sunshine, the beach and a barbecue. Australia sits below the equator, which flips the seasons, so while we are reaching for thermals, Aussies are reaching for the sunscreen. Here is how the day really looks Down Under, from the prawns on the table to Santa in his boardshorts, plus the lovely quirk that lets Australians do a cosy, jumper-wearing Christmas too.

Why is Christmas in summer in Australia?

It comes down to geography. Australia is in the Southern Hemisphere, where the seasons are the reverse of ours, so December is the start of high summer rather than the depths of winter. Average Christmas Day temperatures sit around 30°C across Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia, and nearer 25°C in Victoria and South Australia, with Tasmania a few degrees cooler. School summer holidays run from mid December into early February, so for many families Christmas is the kick-off to weeks of long, light evenings, with the sun often still up well after 8pm.

One less cheerful side of the heat is bushfire season, which peaks over summer. Volunteer firefighters frequently travel between states to help, and for some communities that is part of the backdrop to the festive period.

The Australian Christmas dinner: prawns, pavlova and a cold table

The big meal is usually a long lunch, and the classic roast often gives way to something better suited to a hot day. Think cold ham, salads and heaps of fresh seafood, with prawns, oysters and lobster the stars of the show. On Christmas Eve the fish markets are packed with people queuing for the freshest catch. Plenty of families still serve the "traditional" turkey and trimmings alongside it, so a table can carry both a hot roast and a cold seafood spread at once.

Pudding follows the same split personality. You will find the British plum pudding with brandy butter and mince pies sitting next to cold favourites like pavlova, trifle and fresh summer berries. There is even a home-made treat called White Christmas, a no-bake slice made from dried fruit, coconut and Rice Bubbles (Australia's Rice Krispies) set with white chocolate. Christmas crackers get pulled before the meal, just like here.

Carols by Candlelight, light displays and a surfing Santa

Some of Australia's best-loved traditions are built around being outdoors after dark. Carols by Candlelight began in Melbourne in 1938 and has since spread across the country and beyond. Families gather on Christmas Eve, usually in the open air, to sing carols by candlelight in a huge concert, and the flagship Melbourne event at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl is televised nationwide. Most state capitals also stage enormous Christmas pageants. Adelaide's is the largest of its kind in the world and draws crowds of over 400,000.

Neighbourhoods take their light displays seriously too, with friendly street competitions and councils publishing maps of the best ones to drive or stroll past in the warm evenings. And then there is Santa. Because a thick fur coat makes little sense at 30°C, Australian songs and cards often picture him in shorts and an Akubra hat, sometimes swapping his reindeer for kangaroos, or simply turning up at the beach for a surf. Native touches appear indoors as well, with some homes decorating with Christmas Bush, a local plant whose flowers deepen to a glowing red right around Christmas in Sydney.

Boxing Day: the cricket, the yacht race and the beach

Boxing Day on 26 December is a public holiday across most of Australia, and it is one of the biggest days in the national sporting calendar. The Boxing Day Test begins at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, drawing tens of thousands of spectators, while the gruelling Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race sets off from Sydney Harbour on the same day. For everyone else it is a day for the beach, more barbecues and working through the Christmas leftovers with family and friends. (South Australia is the exception, marking Proclamation Day instead of Boxing Day, though the holiday still falls on 26 December.)

Christmas in July: when Australia finally gets the cosy version

Here is the twist that brings it all home for us. Because the real thing arrives in the heat, many Australians also celebrate Christmas in July, sometimes called Yulefest. The tradition is said to have started in the 1980s when a group of homesick visitors wanted a proper cold-weather Christmas, and it has grown ever since. In the mid-winter chill of July, people put on roast dinners, mull some wine, light the fire and, crucially, pull on a warm Christmas jumper. It is the one time of year an Aussie gets to enjoy the snug northern-hemisphere version of the holiday, which is exactly the spirit our knits are made for.

If you are dreaming of that cosy, fireside Christmas, our Christmas jumpers deliver it whatever the calendar says, and a matching family Christmas jumper set turns carols night or a Christmas in July party into a proper occasion. For the days you would rather stay in by the fire, soft Christmas pyjamas keep the whole gang comfy.

The British connection

For all the sunshine, Australian Christmas has deep British, Irish and Canadian roots. The red-coated Santa, the sleigh, Jingle Bells and snowy scenes on the cards all came along with the winter imagery, even though they make no seasonal sense. That is why the day can feel so familiar and so different at once: the same carols and crackers, but eaten cold by the pool. Michael Bublé's Christmas album and Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" climb the Australian charts every December, exactly as they do over here.

So whether you picture Christmas with snow on the window or sand between your toes, the heart of it is the same, which is family, food and a bit of festive dressing up. For the full background, the Wikipedia entry on Christmas in Australia is a thorough read.