Christmas in South America: midnight, candles and summer

What Nochebuena looks like from Bogotá to Buenos Aires, and the Spanish that changes from country to country

Across South America, the night that matters is the 24th, not the 25th. Families sit down late to la cena de Nochebuena, the Christmas Eve dinner, in many homes the presents are opened at midnight, and the sky fills with fireworks. After that the details change from country to country, and so do the words.

The night of the 24th

Dinner starts at ten or later, so the first useful question is ¿A qué hora es la cena?, what time is dinner? At midnight comes the toast, el brindis, then ¡Feliz Navidad! and the presents. Across the region, ¿Brindamos?, shall we toast?, is the signal that it is twelve.

The fireworks are los fuegos artificiales, and on shop signs you will see pirotecnia. Rules vary by city and change often, and some cities restrict the loud ones.

Colombia starts on 7 December

In Colombia the season opens with el Día de las Velitas, the night of the little candles, when families line windows, balconies and pavements with candles and paper lanterns. From 16 to 24 December comes la novena de aguinaldos, nine evenings of prayers and songs, with families and neighbours taking turns to host. The food is buñuelos, fried cheese dough balls, and natilla, a set custard. And in Colombia the presents come from el Niño Dios, the baby Jesus, not from Santa: ¿Qué te trajo el Niño Dios?

A Christmas in summer

South of the equator, Christmas falls in the summer holidays. In Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and Paraguay it can be over thirty degrees, so the meal is often cold dishes or un asado, a barbecue outside: ¿Hacemos un asado? Argentines eat vitel toné, cold veal in a tuna sauce, and pan dulce, the panettone that Italian immigrants brought. In Chile the cake is el pan de pascua and the drink is cola de mono, coffee and milk with spirits, and Santa is el Viejito Pascuero.

Venezuela and Peru

Venezuela's Christmas dish is la hallaca, maize dough filled with a rich stew and wrapped in plantain leaves, made by the whole family in one long day. In Peru, hot chocolate with panetón is the taste of the season, and community chocolatadas hand both out to children.

New Year

At midnight on the 31st many families eat twelve grapes, a custom from Spain. Others wear yellow underwear for luck, and in Colombia and Ecuador some walk round the block with an empty suitcase to travel in the new year. In Ecuador, and in parts of Colombia, a stuffed figure of the old year, el año viejo, is burned in the street.

One nativity, three words

In most of South America the nativity scene is el pesebre. Mexico says el nacimiento and Spain el belén. Mexico's Christmas, with its posadas and piñatas, is different enough to have a guide of its own.